Effects of traditional Chinese medicine directional drug penetration therapy on gastrointestinal function, gut microbiota, and sleep quality in postoperative ovarian cancer patients: a randomized controlled trial.

PURPOSE: To investigate the intervention effects of TCM directional drug penetration therapy on gastrointestinal function, gut microbiota, and sleep quality in postoperative ovarian cancer patients. METHODS: A total of 112 postoperative ovarian cancer patients were randomly divided into an observation group and a control group, with 56 cases in each group. The control group received conventional postoperative rehabilitation interventions, while the observation group additionally received TCM directional drug penetration therapy until the first bowel movement. Gastrointestinal function recovery indicators, gut microbiota diversity and differential flora composition, and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) scores were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: The observation group exhibited significantly shorter recovery times to first bowel sounds, anal flatus, and defecation (P < 0.05). LEfSe analysis revealed that the dominant bacteria in the observation group were Veillonellales-Selenomonadales, Megasphaera, and Corynebacterium, whereas the control group was dominated by Gardnerella. KEGG functional prediction indicated that the gene sequence abundance of the phosphotransferase system (PTS) pathway in the gut microbiota of the observation group was significantly lower than that in the control group. Post-intervention, the total PSQI score, sleep duration, sleep efficiency, and sleep disturbance scores in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: TCM directional drug penetration therapy can accelerate gastrointestinal function recovery after ovarian cancer surgery, regulate specific gut microbiota and functional pathways, and alleviate postoperative sleep quality decline.