Menthol chewing gum on preoperative thirst management: randomized clinical trial

Objective: to evaluate the effectiveness of menthol chewing gum, in the relief of the intensity and discomfort of the surgical patient's thirst in the preoperative period. Method: a randomized controlled trial, with 102 patients in the preoperative period, randomized in a control group, with usual care, and an experimental group, which received menthol gum, which was the study treatment variable. The primary clinical outcome was the variation in thirst intensity, evaluated by the Numeral Verbal Scale, and the secondary, the variation of the discomfort of thirst, evaluated by the Perioperative Thirst Discomfort Scale. Mann-Whitney test was used to compare measures between groups. The significance level adopted was of 0.05. Results: menthol chewing gum significantly reduced the intensity (p <0.001), with Cohen's medium-effect d, and thirst discomfort (p <0.001), with a large-effect Cohen's d. Conclusion: menthol chewing gum was effective in reducing the intensity and discomfort of preoperative thirst. The strategy proved to be an innovative, feasible and safe option in the use for the surgical patient, in the management of the preoperative thirst, in elective surgeries.