What is bowel rest?

Not eating: Typically done post-operatively or sometimes in an attempt to avoid surgery.

No eating: This may include simply not eating, but it may also include placement of a tube from the nose to the stomach (naso-gastic tube "ngt"). The ngt not only "decompresses" the stomach by removing stomach fluid, but it also helps to removes all of the air that you and i swallow throughout the day.