Background: Critically ill patients who receive enteral nutrition suffer from many gastric complications and gastric
intolerance seems to be the most common gastrointestinal complications. Abdominal massage is a non-pharmacological
technique easily applied by nurses to decrease gastric intolerance without side effects. Aim: the aim of this study was to
investigate the effect of abdominal massage on gastric residual volume between critically ill patients receiving enteral
feeding. Method: A quasi-experimental design was used to conduct this study in the medical intensive care unit of
Kafrelshiekh University Hospital. A convenience sample of 110 patients was randomly divided into the massage group
(n=55) and the control group (n=55). The massage group received the abdominal massage intervention and the control
group received the routine care of the unit. Enteral nutrition follow up tool was used to collect data for this study. Results:
The results revealed statistically significant differences between both groups regarding the implementation of abdominal
massage (P =0.001). Conclusion: Implementation of the abdominal massage is significantly effective in reducing the
gastric residual volume among critically ill patients receiving enteral nutrition. Recommendations: Critical care nurses
should incorporate the abdominal massage as a part of daily routine care in intensive care units to achieve good patient
outcomes. To enhance the knowledge regarding how to care for critically ill patients receiving enteral feeding, further
extensive studies are recommended.