Objective To explore the clinical effect and application value of early acupressure combined with hot belly(hot compress on abdomen)to promote the recovery of gastrointestinal function after abdominal surgery. Methods A prospective random controlled study was conducted from January 2012 to October 2012,200 hospitalized patients having undergone abdominal surgery were randomly divided into a control group(100 cases)and an observation group(100 cases). Traditional nursing method was applied to take care of the abdominal postoperative patients in the control group,that was at post-operative 6 hours the patient may begin to turn over in bed,once 2 hours,and on the post-operative 1 day,according to the patient's disease situation,he or she may be allowed to ambulate in the room without any other additional measures,waiting for the recovery of gastrointestinal function. In the observation group, beside the traditional nursing method used in the control group,additionally,acupressure and abdominal fomentation was applied twice a day for 4 days. The postoperative bowel sound recovery time,the anus spontaneous exhaust time, the incidences of abdominal distension and intestinal obstruction were observed. Results In the observation group, the gurgling sound recovery time and anus spontaneous exhaust time were significantly shorter than those in the control group〔gurgling sound recovery time(hour):17.77±2.67 vs. 18.87±3.18,anus spontaneous exhaust time(hour):28.27±6.30 vs. 30.85±6.74,both P<0.01〕;the incidences of postoperative abdominal distention and intestinal obstruction were obviously lower than those in the control group(bloating:9.0%vs. 23.0%,intestinal obstruction:1.0% vs. 9.0%,both P<0.01). Conclusion Early application of acupressure combined with hot belly for abdominal postoperative patients can significantly promote the recovery of gastrointestinal function,that is beneficial to the reduction of the incidences of complications.