1 Mobeen Ali , 2 Mohib Ali , 3 Ali Raza , 4 Hadi Raza, 5 Kashif Lodhi , 6 Dr Faran Hamid
1 PIMS
2 PIMS
3 Birmingham University, UK
4 PIMS
5 Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences. Università Politécnica delle Marche Via Brecce Bianche 10, 60131 Ancona (AN) Italy
6 Senior Registrar, Department of General Surgery, RLKU Medical & Dental College, Hameed Latif Teaching Hospital Lahore
Abstract
Background: Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) protocols mark a new era in perioperative care, designed to improve outcomes following surgery by using an evidence-based approach. Developed in the 1990s, ERAS has progressed and become applied decades ago to general surgery with well-known benefits that included decreasing length of hospitalisation period after surgery, hastening recovery and reducing complications.
Objective: To examine strategies for implementing ERAS protocols in general surgery and the clinical impact on patient outcomes.
Methods: a prospective cohort study of patients subjected to elective general surgery procedures was carried out. Eligibility criteria were established on the basis of diversity, and participants who fulfilled these requirements were recruited. The ERAS protocols included preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative stages along with MDT collaboration approach as well as comprehensive patient education. This information included patient outcomes, adherence to ERAS pathways and potential complications at different time points. Appropriate tests were used for statistical analysis to assess the effect of ERAS.
Results: The study included a wide range of general surgery procedure types among 54-year-old patients. On average, ERAS compliance was 85%. The adaptation of ERAS led to a significant decrease in the length of hospital stay (44% less), started earlier mobilization, decreased complication rates by 15 versus 25%, reduced readmissions from competing complications with rates lower mine returned five instead ten%. The subgroup analyses showed that colorectal surgery patients and younger subjects gained the greatest benefit.
Conclusion: ERAS protocols significantly improve outcomes for patients undergoing colorectal surgery, leading to reduced length of stay in hospital and fewer complications with lower readmission rates as well as expediting recovery. To this end there is a demand for multi-disciplinary practice and guidelines with institutional support. These results indicate that ERAS protocols could be promulgated uniformly throughout surgical specialties to tangibly influence patient care.
Keywords: Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS), General Surgery, Implementation Strategies, Clinical Impact, Multidisciplinary Approach, Patient Outcomes, Perioperative Care, Hospital Stay, Complication Rates, Patient Recovery.