Enhanced Recovery After Surgery: A Better Protocol for Better Outcomes

Background: Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) is a multimodal perioperative management approach that provides better outcomes for less expense. ERAS has been introduced to the practice to improve patients’ perioperative performance and solve barriers to early discharge. ERAS protocol is formed of multiple components, implemented together in a synergistic way to maximize patients’ improvement and cost savings. Currently, many surgeries can be managed with ERAS protocol. However, the diversity of surgical procedures makes it difficult to manage every surgical specialty with a single uniform ERAS protocol. Multiplicity and complexity of ERAS components are considered main barriers to significant adherence and successful adoption of the protocol in the clinical practice, rendering full protocol implementation a serious challenge.

Objectives: This article is aiming to review the current ERAS components and its contribution to perioperative outcomes in the clinical practice.

Contents: This article contains review on significance, guidelines and recommendations of current ERAS components in the perioperative pathway.

Conclusion: ERAS is formed of multiple components that need to be refined to provide a procedure-specific ERAS protocol rather than a single uniform protocol for different surgical specialties. ERAS is a multidisciplinary protocol that needs enormous collaborative efforts from patients, nurses, physicians, and administrative staff involved in the perioperative care of surgical patients to ensure full and correct implementation of ERAS protocol.

Keywords: Enhanced Recovery; Perioperative; ERAS; Fast track surgery