Clinical observation of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation on postoperative ileus after laparoscopic surgery for colorectal cancer

Table 1 Comparison of general data and baseline conditions between the two groups, n (%)/mean ± SD

Indicators	Experimental group (n = 50)	Control group (n = 50)	P value
Gender	Male: 34 (68); female: 16 (32)	Male: 30 (0.6); female: 20 (0.4)	0.405
Age (years)	63.80 ± 13.532	63.52 ± 11.193	0.308
Body mass index (kg/m2)	22.224 ± 2.655	23.064 ± 1.640	0.083
Smoking history	Yes (18); no (32)	Yes (26); no (24)	0.107
Drinking history	Yes (16); no (34)	Yes (25); no (25)	0.067
Hypertension	Yes (13); no (37)	Yes (12); no (38)	0.817
Diabetes mellitus	Yes (12); no (38)	Yes (7); no (43)	0.202
American Society of Anesthesiologists classification	I (5); II (33); III (12)	I (1); II (31); III (18)	0.140
Surgical site	Colon (19); rectum (16); colon + rectum (15)	Colon (14); rectum (15); colon + rectum (21)	0.409
Operation duration (minutes)	210.42 ± 80.318	192.98 ± 60.092	0.087
Intraoperative blood loss (mL)	43.50 ± 31.073	52.80 ± 32.122	0.769

Table 2 Comparison of postoperative gastrointestinal function recovery between the two groups, mean ± SD

Indicators	Experimental group (n = 50)	Control group (n = 50)	T value	P value
Time to first anal exhaust (hours)	55.60 ± 21.687	67.16 ± 27.792	-2.266	0.023
Time to first liquid diet intake (hours)	79.14 ± 36.583	93.26 ± 31.094	-2.624	0.009
Time to first anal defecation (days)	3.36 ± 0.964	3.86 ± 1.246	-2.211	0.027
Time to drainage tube removal (days)	7.44 ± 2.666	8.16 ± 2.034	-2.600	0.009
Postoperative hospital stay (days)	9.58 ± 3.453	11.34 ± 4.231	-3.211	0.001

Table 3 Comparison of postoperative nausea and vomiting scores and incidence of gastrointestinal symptoms between the two groups, n (%)/mean ± SD

Indicators	Experimental group (n = 50)	Control group (n = 50)	t value/χ2 value	P value
Postoperative PONV score at 24 hours (points)	0.480 ± 0.614	0.880 ± 0.521	-3.560	< 0.001
Postoperative PONV score at 48 hours (points)	0.020 ± 0.141	0.100 ± 0.303	-1.676	0.094
Gastrointestinal symptoms	11 (22)	19 (38)	3.048	0.081

PONV: Postoperative nausea and vomiting.

Table 4 Comparison of visual analogue scale pain and sleep scores at different time points after surgery between the two groups, mean ± SD

Indicators	Experimental group (n = 50)	Control group (n = 50)	T value	P value
VAS pain score at 12 hours after surgery (points)	5.880 ± 1.459	6.510 ± 1.264	-2.216	0.027
VAS pain score at 24 hours after surgery (points)	4.280 ± 1.278	5.200 ± 1.348	-3.258	0.001
VAS pain score at 48 hours after surgery (points)	2.140 ± 0.881	2.460 ± 0.813	-1.724	0.085
VAS sleep score at 24 hours after surgery (points)	5.740 ± 1.065	5.240 ± 1.153	-2.258	0.024
VAS sleep score at 48 hours after surgery (points)	6.800 ± 1.088	6.220 ± 1.166	-2.624	0.009

VAS: Visual analogue scale.