Early TEAS Combined with Simethicone for Accelerated Gastrointestinal Recovery after Prostate Cancer Surgery: A  case-control study

Introduction Postoperative gastrointestinal dysfunction is a common complication following laparoscopic radical prostatectomy, significantly impairing patient recovery. Timely pharmacological and physical interventions can effectively promote gastrointestinal function recovery. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of early transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (TEAS) combined with oral simethicone in alleviating postoperative abdominal distension in prostate cancer patients, providing evidence for optimizing the timing and methods of postoperative interventions. Materials and methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on 138 patients who underwent radical prostatectomy at a hospital in Wuhan from February 2025 to November 2025. All cases were from the same surgical team and were divided into three groups based on medical orders: (1) Control group (n=46, standard care), (2) TEAS + simethicone group (n=46, TEAS and simethicone initiated on postoperative day 1), and (3) Early TEAS + simethicone group (n=46, TEAS and simethicone initiated immediately after surgery). Outcome measures included abdominal distension severity on postoperative days 1–3, time to first flatus, defecation within 3 days, and incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV). Results Regarding abdominal distension: On the first postoperative day, there was no significant difference in the severity of abdominal distension among the three groups ( P > 0.05); on the second postoperative day, the incidence of abdominal distension in the early electrical stimulation combined group (21.74%) was lower than that in the control group (45.65%), and the number of patients with severe abdominal distension (6.52%) was also lower than that in the control group (28.26%); on the third postoperative day, the incidence of abdominal distension in the electrical stimulation combined group (21.74%) and the early electrical stimulation combined group (23.91%) was significantly lower than that in the control group (42.48%), and the difference was statistically significant ( P < 0.01). Regarding the time of first defecation: There was a statistically significant difference among the three groups of patients. The early electrical stimulation combined group (22.07 ± 9.27 hours) was significantly shorter than the control group (28.33 ± 11.85 hours); in terms of the number of patients defecating on the third postoperative day: There was a difference among the three groups of patients. The early electrical stimulation combined group (30.43%) had more patients than the control group (10.87%); in terms of the incidence of nausea and vomiting: There was no statistically significant difference among the three groups of patients ( P > 0.05). Conclusions Early TEAS combined with oral simethicone effectively reduces postoperative abdominal distension, accelerates gastrointestinal recovery, and promotes earlier bowel movements in prostate cancer patients. These findings suggest that combined pharmacological and physical therapy should be initiated as early as possible to improve postoperative gastrointestinal dysfunction.