Understanding Enhanced Recovery After Surgery Guidelines: An Introductory Approach.

Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS®) is a multimodal, multidisciplinary approach to surgical care. The ERAS Society has issued recommendations for many surgical procedures that address best practices in preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative management. When implementing a new ERAS protocol, the length and detail of the recommendations can be overwhelming. In this study, the general principles of the ERAS guidelines are summarized and workload is distributed among the different members of the care team. This compartmentalized approach provides an easier way to involve key personnel in the ERAS process and assigns a role for everyone in making ERAS a success.