Enhanced Recovery After Surgery Research Articles

Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) nutrition protocol during COVID-19 pandemic

Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) nutrition protocol during COVID-19 pandemic

Is recovery enhancement after gastric cancer surgery really a safe approach for elderly patients?

BACKGROUND This study aimed to evaluate the safety of enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) in elderly patients with gastric cancer (GC). AIM To evaluate the safety of ERAS in elderly patients with GC. METHODS The PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library databases were used to search for eligible studies from inception to April 1, 2023. The mean difference (MD), odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (95%CI) were pooled for analysis. The quality of the included studies was evaluated using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale scores. We used Stata (V.16.0) software for data analysis. RESULTS This study consists of six studies involving 878 elderly patients. By analyzing the clinical outcomes, we found that the ERAS group had shorter postoperative hospital stays (MD = -0.51, I 2 = 0.00%, 95%CI = -0.72 to -0.30, P = 0.00); earlier times to first flatus (defecation; MD = -0.30, I² = 0.00%, 95%CI = -0.55 to -0.06, P = 0.02); less intestinal obstruction (OR = 3.24, I 2 = 0.00%, 95%CI = 1.07 to 9.78, P = 0.04); less nausea and vomiting (OR = 4.07, I 2 = 0.00%, 95%CI = 1.29 to 12.84, P = 0.02); and less gastric retention (OR = 5.69, I 2 = 2.46%, 95%CI = 2.00 to 16.20, P = 0.00). Our results showed that the conventional group had a greater mortality rate than the ERAS group (OR = 0.24, I 2 = 0.00%, 95%CI = 0.07 to 0.84, P = 0.03). However, there was no statistically significant difference in major complications between the ERAS group and the conventional group (OR = 0.67, I 2 = 0.00%, 95%CI = 0.38 to 1.18, P = 0.16). CONCLUSION Compared to those with conventional recovery, elderly GC patients who received the ERAS protocol after surgery had a lower risk of mortality.

Cryoanalgesia as the Essential Element of Enhanced Recovery after Surgery (ERAS) in Children Undergoing Thoracic Surgery—Scoping Review

This article aims to present cryoanalgesia as an inventive strategy for pain alleviation among pediatric patients. It underlines the tremendous need to align pain management with the principles of the enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) approach. The aim of the study was to review the patient outcomes of nerve cryoanalgesia during surgery reported with regard to ERAS in the literature. The literature search was performed using PubMed and Embase to identify articles on the use of cryoanalgesia in children. It excluded editorials, reviews, meta-analyses, and non-English articles. The analysis focused on the study methods, data analysis, patient selection, and patient follow-up. This review includes a total of 25 articles. Three of the articles report the results of cryoanalgesia implemented in ERAS protocol in children. The research outcome indicates shortened hospital stay, potential reduction in opioid dosage, and significant progress in physical rehabilitation. This paper also describes the first intraoperative utilization of intercostal nerve cryoanalgesia during the Nuss procedure in Poland, highlighting its effectiveness in pain management. Adding the cryoanalgesia procedure to multimodal analgesia protocol may facilitate the implementation of the ERAS protocol in pediatric patients.

Enhanced recovery through fast-track pathway for patients undergoing emergency appendectomy: a quality improvement study

Introduction: Acute appendicitis is a highly prevalent condition, with an incidence ranging from 5.7 to 57 cases per 100,000 inhabitants per year. The average hospitalization duration for patients undergoing laparoscopic appendectomy is 2.08 days and 2.88 days for open appendectomy cases. The implementation of Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) protocols for early patient recovery reduces hospital stay without an increase in complications or readmissions. The main objective of the study is to analyze the postoperative hospital stay in patients undergoing urgent appendectomy (open or laparoscopic) who follow the clinical pathway included in the ERAS bundle.
 Materials and methods: Prospective observational study conducted at the Hospital Universitari Parc Taulí, in Sabadell (Barcelona). The results of the patients included in the study were compared with the historical cohort of the hospital with inclusion criteria identical to the study.
 Results: Between May 2021 and February 2022, 50 patients (24 men and 26 women) were included. Laparoscopic appendectomy was performed in 47 patients and open appendectomy in 3 cases. The mean postoperative stay in the group that followed the clinical pathway was 23 hours, compared to 38 hours in the historical control group, with this difference being statistically significant (p 0.03), without observing an increase in morbidity.
 Conclusion: The use of clinical pathways in patients undergoing urgent surgery for acute appendicitis reduces the average hospital stay without increasing the risk of complications or readmissions.
  

Prehabilitation in Adults Undergoing Cancer Surgery: A Comprehensive Review on Rationale, Methodology, and Measures of Effectiveness

Cancer surgery places a significant burden on a patients’ functional status and quality of life. In addition, cancer surgery is fraught with postoperative complications, themselves influenced by a patient’s functional status. Prehabilitation is a unimodal or multimodal strategy that aims to increase a patient’s functional capacity to reduce postoperative complications and improve postoperative recovery and quality of life. In most cases, it involves exercise, nutrition, and anxiety-reducing interventions. The impact of prehabilitation has been explored in several types of cancer surgery, most commonly colorectal and thoracic. Overall, the existing evidence suggests prehabilitation improves physiological outcomes (e.g., lean body mass, maximal oxygen consumption) as well as clinical outcomes (e.g., postoperative complications, quality of life). Notably, the benefit of prehabilitation is additional to that of enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) programs. While safe, prehabilitation programs require multidisciplinary coordination preoperatively. Despite the existence of numerous systematic reviews and meta-analyses, the certainty of evidence demonstrating the efficacy and safety of prehabilitation is low to moderate, principally due to significant methodological heterogeneity and small sample sizes. There is a need for more large-scale multicenter randomized controlled trials to draw strong clinical recommendations.

Intra- and post-operative outcomes of the Enhanced Recovery after Surgery (ERAS) Program in laparoscopic hysterectomy.

To investigate the effect of the Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) protocol on perioperative and post-operative outcomes in laparoscopic hysterectomies (LHs) performed for benign gynecological diseases. This prospective study was conducted with randomized 100 participants who underwent LH between 1 January and 31 December, 2022. A standard care protocol was applied to 50 participants (Group 1, control) and the ERAS protocol to the other 50 (Group 2, study). Length of hospitalization was compared between the groups as the primary outcome, and the duration of the operation, the amount of bleeding, post-operative nausea-vomiting, gas discharge time, visual analog scale (VAS) pain scores, and complications as the secondary outcomes. No statistically significant difference was seen between the groups in terms of sociodemographic characteristics, medical history, operation indications, surgical procedures applied in addition to hysterectomy, operative time, pre-operative and post-operative hemoglobin levels, amount of bleeding, or drain use (p > 0.05). However, a statistically significant difference was observed in terms of nausea (60% vs. 26%, p = 0.001), vomiting (28% vs. 10%, p = 0.040), duration of gassing (17.74 ± 6.77 vs. 14.20 ± 7.05h, p = 0.012), length of hospitalization (41.78 ± 12.17 vs. 34.12 ± 10.90h, p = 0.001), analgesic requirements (4.62 ± 1.36 vs. 3.34 ± 1.27h, p < 0.001), or VAS scores at the 1st (5.86 ± 1.21 vs. 4.58 ± 1.31, p < 0.001), 6th (5.16 ± 1.12 vs. 4.04 ± 1.08, p < 0.001), 12th (4.72 ± 1.12 vs. 3.48 ± 1.12, p < 0.001), 18th (4.48 ± 1.21 vs. 3.24 ± 1.34, p < 0.001), and 24th (4.08 ± 1.29 vs. 3.01 ± 1.30, p < 0.001) hours. The findings of this study show that the ERAS protocol has a positive effect on peri- and post-operative outcomes in LH. Further prospective studies are now needed to confirm the validity of the results.

Preoperative nutrition therapy in people undergoing gastrointestinal surgery.

Poor preoperative nutritional status has been consistently linked to an increase in postoperative complications and worse surgical outcomes. We updated a review first published in 2012. To assess the effects of preoperative nutritional therapy compared to usual care in people undergoing gastrointestinal surgery. We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, MEDLINE, Embase, three other databases and two trial registries on 28 March 2023. We searched reference lists of included studies. We included randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of people undergoing gastrointestinal surgery and receiving preoperative nutritional therapy, including parenteral nutrition, enteral nutrition or oral nutrition supplements, compared to usual care. We only included nutritional therapy that contained macronutrients (protein, carbohydrate and fat) and micronutrients, and excluded studies that evaluated single nutrients. We included studies regardless of the nutritional status of participants, that is, well-nourished participants, participants at risk of malnutrition, or mixed populations. We excluded studies in people undergoing pancreatic and liver surgery. Our primary outcomes were non-infectious complications, infectious complications and length of hospital stay. Our secondary outcomes were nutritional aspects, quality of life, change in macronutrient intake, biochemical parameters, 30-day perioperative mortality and adverse effects. We used standard Cochrane methodology. We assessed risk of bias using the RoB 1 tool and applied the GRADE criteria to assess the certainty of evidence. We included 16 RCTs reporting 19 comparisons (2164 participants). Seven studies were new for this update. Participants' ages ranged from 21 to 79 years, and 62% were men. Three RCTs used parenteral nutrition, two used enteral nutrition, eight used immune-enhancing nutrition and six used standard oral nutrition supplements. All studies included mixed groups of well-nourished and malnourished participants; they used different methods to identify malnutrition and reported this in different ways. Not all the included studies were conducted within an Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) programme, which is now current clinical practice in most hospitals undertaking GI surgery. We were concerned about risk of bias in all the studies and 14 studies were at high risk of bias due to lack of blinding. We are uncertain if parenteral nutrition has any effect on the number of participants who had a non-infectious complication (risk ratio (RR) 0.61, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.36 to 1.02; 3 RCTs, 260 participants; very low-certainty evidence); infectious complication (RR 0.98, 95% CI 0.53 to 1.80; 3 RCTs, 260 participants; very low-certainty evidence) or length of hospital stay (mean difference (MD) 5.49 days, 95% CI 0.02 to 10.96; 2 RCTs, 135 participants; very low-certainty evidence). None of the enteral nutrition studies reported non-infectious complications as an outcome. The evidence is very uncertain about the effect of enteral nutrition on the number of participants with infectious complications after surgery (RR 0.90, 95% CI 0.59 to 1.38; 2 RCTs, 126 participants; very low-certainty evidence) or length of hospital stay (MD 5.10 days, 95% CI -1.03 to 11.23; 2 RCTs, 126 participants; very low-certainty evidence). Immune-enhancing nutrition compared to controls may result in little to no effect on the number of participants experiencing a non-infectious complication (RR 0.79, 95% CI 0.62 to 1.00; 8 RCTs, 1020 participants; low-certainty evidence), infectious complications (RR 0.74, 95% CI 0.53 to 1.04; 7 RCTs, 925 participants; low-certainty evidence) or length of hospital stay (MD -1.22 days, 95% CI -2.80 to 0.35; 6 RCTs, 688 participants; low-certainty evidence). Standard oral nutrition supplements may result in little to no effect on number of participants with a non-infectious complication (RR 0.90, 95% CI 0.67 to 1.20; 5 RCTs, 473 participants; low-certainty evidence) or the length of hospital stay (MD -0.65 days, 95% CI -2.33 to 1.03; 3 RCTs, 299 participants; low-certainty evidence). The evidence is very uncertain about the effect of oral nutrition supplements on the number of participants with an infectious complication (RR 0.88, 95% CI 0.60 to 1.27; 5 RCTs, 473 participants; very low-certainty evidence). Sensitivity analysis based on malnourished and weight-losing participants found oral nutrition supplements may result in a slight reduction in infections (RR 0.58, 95% CI 0.40 to 0.85; 2 RCTs, 184 participants). Studies reported some secondary outcomes, but not consistently. Complications associated with central venous catheters occurred in RCTs involving parenteral nutrition. Adverse events in the enteral nutrition, immune-enhancing nutrition and standard oral nutrition supplements RCTs included nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and abdominal pain. We were unable to determine if parenteral nutrition, enteral nutrition, immune-enhancing nutrition or standard oral nutrition supplements have any effect on the clinical outcomes due to very low-certainty evidence. There is some evidence that standard oral nutrition supplements may have no effect on complications. Sensitivity analysis showed standard oral nutrition supplements probably reduced infections in weight-losing or malnourished participants. Further high-quality multicentre research considering the ERAS programme is required and further research in low- and middle-income countries is needed.

ENHANCED RECOVERY PATHWAY AFTER LAPAROSCOPIC HERNIOPLASTY IN PATIENTS WITH VENTRAL HERNIAS: IS IT NECESSARY TO APPLY?

The aim: To study the effectiveness of the enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocol for laparoscopic hernioplasty (LH) in patients with ventral hernias (VH).&#x0D; Materials and methods: 190 patients with VH after laparoscopic prosthetic hernioplasty with intraperitoneal mesh placement (IPOM) were included in the study and divided into two groups. The study group (ERAS group) included 92 (48.4%) patients to whom the ERAS protocol was applied, the control group (preERAS group) – 98 (51.6%) patients. The width of the hernia was more than 10 cm in 25 (13.2%) patients of the ERAS group. For them botulinum toxin type A (BTA) was injected into the muscles of the anterior abdominal wall 4 weeks before the operation. In the postoperative period, the duration of the operation, hospital length of stay, the intensity of the pain syndrome and well-being, the level of C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) on the first postoperative day were evaluated.&#x0D; Results: After the introduction of BTA in 25 patients of ERAS group, the hernial defect decreased by an average of 4.6±0.62 mm and in all cases became less than 10 cm (р&lt;0.001). The average duration of LH in the study and control groups did not differ statistically (ERAS; 91.2±37.41 min vs preERAS 88.9±30.05 min, p=0.76). In 2 hours after the operation, it was possible to activate all patients of the study group and 78 (79.6%) of the control group, within 4-6 hours – the other 20 (20.4%) patients of the control group. Using the ERAS protocol demonstrated significantly less intensity of pain syndrome according to visual analogue scale (VAS), complaints of nausea (р&lt;0.001), bloating (р=0.017), feelings of hunger, thirst and general weakness (р&lt;0.001). At the same time, there was no statistically significant difference in the presence of defecation (р=0.31). The average level of CRP after surgery was significantly higher in the control group compared to the study group (preERAS; 43.63 ± 13.90 vs ERAS; 16.55 ± 9.97, p&lt;0.001). The level of IL-6 similarly increased more significantly in the control group (pre ERAS; 34.03 ± 18.18 vs ERAS; 11.44 ± 5.30, p&lt;0.001). The length of hospital stay after surgery did not differ statistically between the groups (р=0.21).&#x0D; Conclusions: The use of the ERAS protocol during laparoscopic hernioplasty IРOM for patients with VH can reduce the intensity of the pain syndrome in the postoperative period and increase the patient's subjective assessment of their condition. The use of BTA in the preoperative period allows the implementation of the ERAS protocol even when used with large ventral hernias.

Related factors associated with the prognosis of children undergoing liver transplantation under the enhanced recovery after surgery nursing concept.

This study aimed to investigate factors associated with the clinical outcomes of patients who underwent pediatric liver transplantation (LT) and received enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) nursing. A cohort of 104 pediatric patients was studied at our hospital. Data on 8 indicators and 2 clinical outcomes, including length of hospital stay (LOS) and 30-day readmission rates, were collected. Linear and logistic regression analyses were employed to examine the associations of the 8 indicators with hospital-LOS and readmission risks, respectively. The predictive value of these indicators for the outcomes was determined using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, decision curve analysis, and importance ranking through the XGBoost method. A comprehensive model was developed to evaluate its predictive accuracy. Regression analyses identified donor age, donor gender, and intensive care unit (ICU)-LOS of recipients as significant predictors of hospital LOS (all P < .05), whereas no indicators were significantly associated with readmission risk. Further, ROC analysis revealed that 3 indicators provided superior prediction for 28-day hospital LOS compared to the median LOS of 18 days. ICU-LOS demonstrated the highest clinical net benefit for predicting 28-day hospital-LOS. Multivariable regression analysis confirmed the independent predictive value of donor age and ICU-LOS for the hospital-LOS (all β > 0, all P < .05). Although the comprehensive model incorporating donor age and ICU-LOS showed stable predictive capability for hospital-LOS, its performance did not significantly exceed that of the individual indicators. In pediatric LT, hospital LOS warrants greater emphasis over readmission rates. Donor age and ICU-LOS emerged as independent risk factors associated with prolonged hospital LOS.

Factors associated with increased length of stay in degenerative cervical spine surgery: a cohort analysis from the Canadian Spine Outcomes and Research Network.

Postoperative length of stay (LOS) significantly contributes to healthcare costs and resource utilization. The primary goal of this study was to identify patient, clinical, surgical, and institutional variables that influence LOS after elective surgery for degenerative conditions of the cervical spine. The secondary objectives were to examine the variability in LOS and institutional practices used to decrease LOS. This was a multicenter observational retrospective cohort study of patients enrolled in the Canadian Spine Outcomes and Research Network (CSORN) between January 2015 and October 2020 who underwent elective anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) (1-3 levels) or posterior cervical fusion (PCF) (between C2 and T2) with/without decompression for degenerative conditions of the cervical spine. Prolonged LOS was defined as LOS greater than the median for the ACDF and PCF populations. The principal investigators at each participating CSORN healthcare institution completed a survey to capture institutional practices implemented to reduce postoperative LOS. In total, 1228 patients were included (729 ACDF and 499 PCF patients). The median (IQR) LOS for ACDF and PCF were 1.0 (1.0) day and 5.0 (4.0) days, respectively. Predictors of prolonged LOS after ACDF were female sex, myelopathy diagnosis, lower baseline SF-12 mental component summary score, multilevel ACDF, and perioperative adverse events (AEs) (p < 0.05). Predictors of prolonged LOS after PCF were nonsmoking status, education less than high school, lower baseline numeric rating scale score for neck pain and EQ5D score, higher baseline Neck Disability Index score, and perioperative AEs (p < 0.05). Myelopathy did not significantly predict prolonged LOS within the PCF cohort after multivariate analysis. Of the 8 institutions (57.1%) with an enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocol or standardized protocol, only 3 reported using an ERAS protocol specific to patients undergoing ACDF or PCF. Patient and clinical factors predictive of prolonged LOS after ACDF and PCF are highly variable, warranting individual consideration for possible mitigation. Perioperative AEs remained a consistent independent predictor of prolonged LOS in both cohorts, highlighting the importance of preventing intra- and postoperative complications.

163 Assessing the Economic Benefit of Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) Protocols in Adult Cervical Deformity Patients: Is the Initial Additive Cost of Protocols Offset by Clinical Gains

INTRODUCTION: The economic benefit of ERAS protocols, nor the heterogeneous components that make up such protocols, has not been established. METHODS: CD patients =18 yrs with pre-(BL) and up to 2-year (2Y) postop data were stratified by enrollment in Standard-of-Care ERAS beginning in 2020. Differences in pre, peri-, and post-operative factors were assessed via means comparison analysis. Costs were calculated using PearlDiver database estimates from Medicare pay-scales. QALY was calculated using NDI mapped to SF6D using validated methodology with 3% discount rate to account for residual decline to life expectancy. RESULTS: 270 patients were included (58.11 ± 11.97 years, 48% female). 54 (20.0%) received ERAS protocol recovery treatment post-operatively. Peri-operatively, ERAS+ patients also reported lower mean LOS overall (4.33 vs 5.84, p = .393), and were more likely to be discharged directly to home (χ2(1) = 4.974, p = .028). Per cost analysis, ERAS+ patients reported a lower mean total 2Y cost of 33,829 USD compared to ERAS- patients at 36,951 (p &lt; .001). Furthermore, ERAS+ patients trended towards greater life-expectancy 2Y QALYs gained versus ERAS- patients (.423 vs .368, p = .051), and demonstrated lower costs at reoperation by 2Y (7050 USD vs 8110, p &lt; .001). Controlling for age, surgical invasiveness, and deformity per BL TS-CL, ERAS+ patients below 70 years old were more likely to achieve a cost-effective outcome by 2Y compared to their ERAS- counterparts (OR: 1.011 [1.001 – 1.999, p = .048]. CONCLUSIONS: Patients undergoing Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) protocols experience lower operative times, length of stay, and rates of peri-and and post-operative complications. Subsequently, this study demonstrates that ERAS programs in ACD surgery demonstrate improved cost-effectiveness and reduced total cost by 2Y post-operatively. Due to the potential economic benefit of ERAS for patients, physicians and instutions should consider incorporation of ERAS into practice for eligible patients.

Impact of Gabapentin on Postoperative Hypotension in Enhanced Recovery after Surgery Protocols for Microvascular Breast Reconstruction.

Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocols have been associated with hypotensive episodes after autologous breast reconstruction. Gabapentin (Gaba), a nonopioid analgesic used in ERAS, has been shown to attenuate postoperative hemodynamic responses. This study assesses ERAS's impact, with and without Gaba, on postoperative hypotension after microvascular breast reconstruction. Three cohorts were studied: traditional pathway, ERAS + Gaba, and ERAS no-Gaba. We evaluated length of stay, inpatient narcotic use [morphine milligram equivalents (MME)], mean systolic blood pressure, hypotension incidence, and complications. The traditional cohort was retrospectively reviewed, whereas the ERAS groups were enrolled prospectively after the initiation of the protocol in April 2019 (inclusive of Gaba until October 2022). In total, 441 patients were analyzed. The three cohorts, in the order mentioned above, were similar in age and bilateral reconstruction rates (57% versus 61% versus 60%). The ERAS cohorts, both with and without Gaba, had shorter stays (P < 0.01). Inpatient MME was significantly less in the ERAS + Gaba cohort than the traditional or ERAS no-Gaba cohorts (medians: 112 versus 178 versus 158 MME, P < 0.01). ERAS + Gaba significantly increased postoperative hypotensive events on postoperative day (POD) 1 and 2, with notable reduction after Gaba removal (P < 0.05). Across PODs 0-2, mean systolic blood pressure was highest in the traditional cohort, followed by ERAS no-Gaba, then the ERAS + Gaba cohort (P < 0.05). Complication rates were similar across all cohorts. Postmicrovascular breast reconstruction, ERAS + Gaba reduced overall inpatient narcotic usage, but increased hypotension incidence. Gaba removal from the ERAS protocol reduced postoperative hypotension incidence while maintaining similar stay lengths and complication rates.

Erector Spinae Plane Block Level Does Not Impact Analgesic Efficacy in Enhanced Recovery for Lumbar Spine Surgery

Background ContextPostoperative pain control following spine surgery can be difficult. The Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) programs use multimodal approaches to manage postoperative pain. While an erector spinae plane block (ESPB) is commonly utilized, the ideal distance for injection from the incision, referred to as the ES (ESPB to mid-surgical level) distance, remains undetermined. PurposeWe evaluated the impact of varying ES distances for ESPB on Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) measures of postoperative pain within the ERAS protocol. Study design/settingRetrospective observational study. Patient SampleAdult patients who underwent elective lumbar spine fusion surgery. Outcome measuresPrimary outcome measures include the comparative postoperative NRS scores across groups at immediate (T1), 24 (T2), 48 (T3), and 72 (T4) hours post-surgery. For secondary outcomes, a propensity matching analysis compared these outcomes between the ERAS and non-ERAS groups, with opioid-related recovery metrics also assessed. MethodsAll included patients were assigned to one of three ERAS groups according to the ES distance: Group 1 (G1, ES > 3 segments), Group 2 (G2, ES = 2–3 segments), and Group 3 (G3, ES<2 segments). Each patient underwent a bilateral ultrasound-guided ESPB with 60 mL of diluted ropivacaine or bupivacaine. ResultsPatients within the ERAS cohort reported mild pain (NRS < 3), with no significant NRS variation across G1 to G3 at any time. Sixty-five patients were matched across ERAS and non-ERAS groups. The ERAS group exhibited significantly lower NRS scores from T1 to T3 than the non-ERAS group. Total morphine consumption during hospitalization was 26.7 mg for ERAS and 41.5 mg for non-ERAS patients. The ERAS group resumed water and food intake sooner and had less postoperative nausea and vomiting. ConclusionsESPBs can be effectively administered at or near the mid-surgical level to the low thoracic region for lumbar spine surgeries. Given challenges with sonovisualization, a lumbar ESPB may be preferred to minimize the risk of inadvertent pleural injury.

Successful Implementation of Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) in Paediatric Cardiac Surgery in Australia

Fast-track or enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) is a care pathway for surgical patients based on a multidisciplinary team approach aimed at optimising recovery without increasing risk with protocols based on scientific evidence, which is monitored continuously to ensure compliance and improvement. These protocols have been shown to reduce the duration of postoperative mechanical ventilation and intensive care unit (ICU) length of stay (LOS) following paediatric cardiac surgery. We present the first structured implementation of ERAS in paediatric cardiac surgery in Australia. All patients enrolled in the ERAS pathway between October 2019 and July 2023 were identified. Demographic and perioperative data were collected retrospectively from hospital records for patients operated before June 2021 and prospectively from June 2021. A control group (non-ERAS) was identified using propensity matching from patients who underwent similar procedures and were not enrolled in the ERAS pathway (prior to October 2019). Patients were matched for age, weight, and comprehensive Aristotle score. Outcomes of interest were duration of postoperative mechanical ventilation, ICU LOS, readmission to the ICU, hospital LOS, cardiac reintervention rate, postoperative complication rate, and number of 30-day readmissions. Of 1,084 patients who underwent cardiac surgery during the study period (October 2019-July 2023), 121 patients (11.2%) followed the ERAS pathway. The median age at the time of surgery was 4.8 years (interquartile range [IQR] 2.8-8.8 years). The most common procedure was the closure of atrial septal defect (n=58, 47.9%). The median cardiopulmonary bypass and cross-clamp times were 40 min (IQR 28-53.5 minutes) and 24.5 min (IQR 13-34 minutes) respectively. The majority were extubated in the operating theatre (n=108, 89.3%). The median ICU and hospital LOS were 4.5 hrs (IQR 4.1-5.6 hours) and 4 days (IQR 4-5 days) respectively. None of the patients required readmission to the ICU within 24 hrs of discharge from the ICU. Three (3) patients (2.5%) required reintervention. When compared with the non-ERAS group, the duration of postoperative mechanical ventilation, ICU and hospital LOS were significantly lower in the ERAS group. There was no significant difference in the ICU readmission rate, reintervention rate, complication rate, and number of 30-day readmissions between both groups. ERAS after paediatric cardiac surgery is feasible and safe in select patients with low preoperative risk. This pathway reduces the duration of postoperative mechanical ventilation, ICU and hospital LOS without increasing risks, enabling the optimisation of resources.

Enhanced recovery after liver surgery in cirrhotic patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BackgroundFew studies have assessed enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) in liver surgery for cirrhotic patients. The present meta-analysis assessed the impact of ERAS pathways on outcomes after liver surgery in cirrhotic patients compared to standard care.MethodsA literature search was performed on PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, and the Cochrane Library. Studies comparing ERAS protocols versus standard care in cirrhotic patients undergoing liver surgery were included. The primary outcome was post-operative complications, while secondary outcomes were mortality rates, length of stay (LoS), readmissions, reoperations, and liver failure rates.ResultsAfter evaluating 41 full-text manuscripts, 5 articles totaling 646 patients were included (327 patients in the ERAS group and 319 in the non-ERAS group). Compared to non-ERAS care, ERAS patients had less risk of developing overall complications (OR 0.43, 95% CI 0.31–0.61, p < 0.001). Hospitalization was on average 2 days shorter for the ERAS group (mean difference − 2.04, 95% CI − 3.19 to − 0.89, p < 0.001). Finally, no difference was found between both groups concerning 90-day post-operative mortality and rates of reoperations, readmissions, and liver failure.ConclusionIn cirrhotic patients, ERAS protocol for liver surgery is safe and decreases post-operative complications and LoS. More randomized controlled trials are needed to confirm the results of the present analysis.

Autologous liver transplantation for unresectable hepatobiliary malignancies in enhanced recovery after surgery model.

Ex vivo liver resection combined with autologous liver transplantation offers the opportunity to treat otherwise unresectable hepatobiliary malignancies and has been applied in clinic. The implementation of enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) program improves the outcome of surgical procedures. This is a retrospective single-center study including 11 cases of patients with liver cancer that underwent autologous liver transplantation and received ERAS: cholangiocarcinoma of the hilar region (n = 5), intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (n = 3), gallbladder cancer (n = 1), liver metastasis from colorectal cancer (n = 1), and liver metastasis from gastrointestinal mesenchymal tumor (n = 1). There were no deaths within 30 days and major complications occurred in two patients, and four patients were readmitted upon the first month after the surgery. Median hospital stay was 20 days (range 13-44) and median open diet was Day 4 (range 2-9) after surgery and median early post-operative activity was Day 5 (range 2-9) after surgery. In conclusion, autologous liver transplantation is feasible in the treatment of otherwise unresectable hepatobiliary malignancies, and our study showed favorable results with autologous liver transplantation in ERAS modality. ERAS modality provides a good option for some patients whose tumors cannot be resected in situ and offers a chance for rapid recovery.

The Negative Impacts of Sarcopenia on Primary Total Knee Arthroplasty under the Enhanced Recovery after Surgery Protocol.

Sarcopenia, as an emerging public health concern, has been associated with postoperative adverse outcomes in various surgical procedures. However, the evidence regarding the impacts of sarcopenia on total knee arthroplasty (TKA) remained limited. This study aimed to assess the impacts of sarcopenia on primary TKA based on the enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocol. This retrospective study included 291 patients who received unilateral TKA from October 2017 to May 2018 in our institution. Sarcopenia was diagnosed based on the algorithm of Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia 2019. The handgrip strength was measured using a handheld dynamometer and the muscle mass was estimated by a previously validated anthropometric equation. Patients were classified into sarcopenia group and non-sarcopenia group. The outcomes included complications, postoperative length of stay (LOS), total hospitalization cost, operative time, total estimated blood loss, blood transfusion rate, and the 12-item forgotten joint score (FJS-12) at the follow-up. The propensity score matching (PSM) was used to adjust confounding factors. We compared continuous variables using Student's t-test and the Wilcoxon Mann-Whitney U test for normal and non-normal distributions, respectively, and categorical variables with chi-square tests. Of the 291 patients, 58 (19.9%) patients were identified as having sarcopenia. After PSM, each group matched 42 patients. All matched patients were followed-up at least 5 years. Patients with sarcopenia had higher rates of surgical complications compared to the non-sarcopenia group (p = 0.019), and no significant difference was observed in 30-day readmission, and periprosthetic joint infection. The sarcopenia group had significantly longer LOS (p = 0.038), higher total hospitalization (p = 0.015) than the non-sarcopenia group. For the FJS-12 scores at follow-up, patients with sarcopenia had significantly higher scores than the non-sarcopenia group (p = 0.024). Our findings indicated sarcopenia may be a risk factor for postoperative complications, prolonged LOS, increased hospitalization cost and reduced patient satisfaction.

Surgical treatment of degenerative stenotic lesions of the lumbar spine. Own experience of using minimally invasive techniques

Lumbar spinal stenosis is a multifactorial progressive condition mainly affecting older individuals, characterized by narrowing of the natural anatomical pathways passage of nerve structures, resulting in typical clinical symptoms. The disease affects about 103 million people in worldwide with an incidence of absolute lumbar spinal stenosis 19.4% among individuals aged 60-69 years. In the United States, about 600,000 surgical interventions for lumbar spinal stenosis are performed annually. This disease is one of the most common causes of lumbar pain and lower limbs in the elderly individuals, accompanied by claudication and ultimately leading to disability. The main cause of clinical symptoms of the lumbar spinal stenosis is the discrepancy between the sizes of nerve structures and their osteofibrous sheaths, resulting from gradually developing degenerative-dystrophic changes. Objective: To compare the outcomes of surgical treatment of patients with degenerative stenotic lesions of the lumbar spine using open and minimally invasive methods. Materials and methods. The results of surgical treatment of 97 patients with lumbar spinal stenosis aged from 28 to 81 years on the basis of the Department of Minimally Invasive and Laser Spinal Neurosurgery of the State Institution " A.P. Romodanov Neurosurgery Institute, Ukraine", " Neurosurgical Department №20 of Vinnytsia Regional Clinical Psychoneurological Hospital named after Acad. O.I. Yushchenko" of Vinnytsia Regional Council and "Spinex" Medical Center following all clinical research protocols. Patients were divided into four groups depending on the surgical intervention method. Results. The development of concepts regarding the mechanisms of occurrence and treatment methods of lumbar spinal stenosis are highlighted, as well as personal experience of using minimally invasive treatment techniques for this pathology in combination with the use of the ERAS (Enhanced Recovery After Surgery) protocol of perioperative patient management. It was found that the duration of hospital stay for patients with lumbar spinal stenosis statistically significantly desreased when using minimally invasive decompression (p≤0.05) and the ERAS rehabilitation protocol (p≤0.05). When comparing the average length of stay in the hospital of patients of the four groups, a statistically significant (p≤0.05) shorter length of stay in the hospital was observed for patients who underwent minimally invasive decompression using the ERAS rehabilitation protocol. The greatest reduction in pain intensity (according to the Numeric Pain Scale (NPS)) at 6 months post- intervention and rehabilitation was also noted in patients of this group. Conclusions. The use of minimally invasive techniques, the correct choice of surgical procedure volume (interbody fusion is desirable in surgery for degenerative spinal diseases) combined with Enhanced Recovery after Surgery protocol (ERAS) significantly improves postoperative well-being of patients, accelerates patient mobilization, and reduces the length of stay in the hospital.

Severe genu varus deformity does not affect enhanced recovery after surgery total knee arthroplasty outcomes.

Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) has been increasingly adopted in orthopaedic surgery. Although not an exclusion criterion, patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty (TKA) with preoperative severe varus deformity may be less likely to be enrolled for ERAS. This study aimed to compare the success of ERAS TKA between patients with severe preoperative varus deformities (≥ 15° varus) and the control group (< 15° varus to 14° valgus). Our secondary aim was to compare postoperative complications and functional outcomes between the two groups. 310 TKAs performed from August 2019 to February 2021 were analyzed with a follow-up of 6 months postoperatively. The primary outcome, ERAS TKA success, was defined as length of hospital stay of < 24h. Other parameters included 30-day postoperative complications and clinical outcomes such as the original Oxford Knee Score (OKS), the Knee Society Knee (KSKS) and Function Score (KSFS), Visual Analog Scale for Pain (VAS-P), 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) Physical Component Summary (PCS) and SF-36 Mental Component Summary (MCS). There were 119 patients in the severe deformity group and 191 patients in the control group. There were no significant differences in ERAS success between the severe deformity group and control group, with both groups achieving similarly high rates (> 90%) of ERAS success. There were also no differences in 30-day postoperative complications and 6-month postoperative clinical outcomes. Patients with severe preoperative varus deformity undergoing ERAS TKA achieved high ERAS success rates (> 90%). Genu varum is not a contraindication for ERAS TKA.

ASO Visual Abstract: ImprovedPostoperative Pain Management Outcomes After Implementation of Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) Protocol for Cytoreductive Surgery and Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy (CRS-HIPEC).

ASO Visual Abstract: ImprovedPostoperative Pain Management Outcomes After Implementation of Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) Protocol for Cytoreductive Surgery and Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy (CRS-HIPEC).