BACKGROUND: Enhanced recovery pathways (ERPs) are thought to improve surgical outcomes by standardizing perioperative patient care established in evidence-based literature. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of a colorectal surgery ERP on hospital length of stay (LOS) and other patient outcomes. METHODS: This is a comparative effectiveness study of patients undergoing elective colorectal surgery 2 years prior (pre-ERP group) and 2 years after (ERP group) implementation of an ERP program. The primary outcome was hospital LOS. Secondary outcomes included postoperative complications, 30-day readmissions, and 30-day reoperations. Multivariable regression analyses were utilized to control for patient factors, general health factors, diagnosis, surgeon, colon versus rectal operations, and open versus minimally invasive operations-laparoscopic and robotic. An ERP checklist was developed to track adherence to components of the pathway. RESULTS: The study population included 1036 patients: 523 in the pre-ERP group and 513 in the ERP group. Unadjusted LOS was significantly shorter in the ERP group than the control pre-ERP group [3 (IQR 3.5) vs 5 days (IQR 4.6); p < 0.0001]. Multivariable regression analysis confirmed the reduction in LOS, controlling for age, colon/rectum procedure, open/laparoscopic/robotic approach, primary diagnosis, and alvimopan use. Postoperative outcomes were not significantly different between groups except for 30-day readmissions, which were unexpectedly higher in the ERP group (14.6 vs 8.7 %, p = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: A newly implemented ERP on a dedicated colorectal surgery service in an academic non-university hospital setting resulted in shorter hospital LOS, but increased readmissions, for patients undergoing elective open and minimally invasive colon and rectal surgery. Future multi-institutional studies are needed to understand the impact of ERP on postoperative complications and readmissions.
BACKGROUND: Enhanced recovery pathways (ERPs) are thought to improve surgical outcomes by standardizing perioperative patient care established in evidence-based literature. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of a colorectal surgery ERP on hospital length of stay (LOS) and other patient outcomes. METHODS: This is a comparative effectiveness study of patients undergoing elective colorectal surgery 2 years prior (pre-ERP group) and 2 years after (ERP group) implementation of an ERP program. The primary outcome was hospital LOS. Secondary outcomes included postoperative complications, 30-day readmissions, and 30-day reoperations. Multivariable regression analyses were utilized to control for patient factors, general health factors, diagnosis, surgeon, colon versus rectal operations, and open versus minimally invasive operations-laparoscopic and robotic. An ERP checklist was developed to track adherence to components of the pathway. RESULTS: The study population included 1036 patients: 523 in the pre-ERP group and 513 in the ERP group. Unadjusted LOS was significantly shorter in the ERP group than the control pre-ERP group [3 (IQR 3.5) vs 5 days (IQR 4.6); p < 0.0001]. Multivariable regression analysis confirmed the reduction in LOS, controlling for age, colon/rectum procedure, open/laparoscopic/robotic approach, primary diagnosis, and alvimopan use. Postoperative outcomes were not significantly different between groups except for 30-day readmissions, which were unexpectedly higher in the ERP group (14.6 vs 8.7 %, p = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: A newly implemented ERP on a dedicated colorectal surgery service in an academic non-university hospital setting resulted in shorter hospital LOS, but increased readmissions, for patients undergoing elective open and minimally invasive colon and rectal surgery. Future multi-institutional studies are needed to understand the impact of ERP on postoperative complications and readmissions.
Authors: U O Gustafsson; M J Scott; W Schwenk; N Demartines; D Roulin; N Francis; C E McNaught; J Macfie; A S Liberman; M Soop; A Hill; R H Kennedy; D N Lobo; K Fearon; O Ljungqvist Journal: World J Surg Date: 2013-02 Impact factor: 3.352
Authors: Nicoleta O Kolozsvari; Giovanni Capretti; Pepa Kaneva; Amy Neville; Franco Carli; Sender Liberman; Patrick Charlebois; Barry Stein; Melina C Vassiliou; Gerald M Fried; Liane S Feldman Journal: Surg Endosc Date: 2012-07-19 Impact factor: 4.584
Authors: Damian Bragg; Ahmed M El-Sharkawy; Emmanouil Psaltis; Charles A Maxwell-Armstrong; Dileep N Lobo Journal: Clin Nutr Date: 2015-01-31 Impact factor: 7.324
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Authors: Donald E Low; William Allum; Giovanni De Manzoni; Lorenzo Ferri; Arul Immanuel; MadhanKumar Kuppusamy; Simon Law; Mats Lindblad; Nick Maynard; Joseph Neal; C S Pramesh; Mike Scott; B Mark Smithers; Valérie Addor; Olle Ljungqvist Journal: World J Surg Date: 2019-02 Impact factor: 3.352
Authors: Anuradha R Bhama; Farwa Batool; Stacey D Collins; Jane Ferraro; Robert K Cleary Journal: J Gastrointest Surg Date: 2017-10-02 Impact factor: 3.452
Authors: Robert K Cleary; Andrew Kassir; Craig S Johnson; Amir L Bastawrous; Mark K Soliman; Daryl S Marx; Luca Giordano; Tobi J Reidy; Eduardo Parra-Davila; Vincent J Obias; Joseph C Carmichael; Darren Pollock; Alessio Pigazzi Journal: PLoS One Date: 2018-10-24 Impact factor: 3.240