The studies reported
increased bowel function following abdominal massage
or abdominalmassage was found to be equally effective as
laxative treatment. The included studies were found to
have methodological flaws: the studieswere small (n = 1–
32) and only one was a randomized trial. Some studies
lacked information about change in laxative use during
the study period and another study combined the massage
with exercise, which made interpretation of the result
difficult. Ernst (1999) concludes that published data is
insufficient to give recommendations about abdominal
massage and more research is needed. No further
controlled clinical trials published after 1999 have been
found.