Postoperative Outcomes of Enhanced Recovery after Surgery Protocol versus Traditional Care in Patients Undergoing Elective Surgeries: A Nonrandomized Controlled Trial

BACKGROUND: Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) pathways are defined as evidence-based multimodal perioperative processes designed to minimize stress from surgery and optimize recovery after surgery. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the outcomes of ERAS compared to traditional perioperative processes among patients who had elective surgery. METHODOLOGY: This was a prospective observational comparative study of 40 patients receiving elective surgery at a tertiary care hospital. Participants were divided into ERAS (n = 18) and traditional care (n = 22) groups. Outcome measures included time to oral intake, time to mobilization, average length of hospital stay, complications, readmission rates, and mortality rates. Statistical comparisons utilized the independent samples t-test and the Chi-square/Fisher's exact test, with significance defined as P < 0.05. RESULTS: Participants in the ERAS group had significantly earlier postoperative recovery than the traditional care group relative to oral intake (6.2 ± 2.1 vs. 16.9 ± 5.4 h; P < 0.001) and mobilization (6.8 ± 2.5 vs. 24.3 ± 6.2 h; P < 0.001). The average length of stay was also significantly less among participants in the ERAS group as compared to traditional care participants (8.67 ± 2.57 vs. 12.64 ± 5.23 days; P = 0.002). Postoperative complications were slightly smaller in the ERAS group (5.6% vs. 9.1%), and readmission rates were also lower (5.6% vs. 13.6%); however, these were not statistically significant. No participants died during the period covered by this study. CONCLUSION: The implementation of ERAS pathways results in improved postoperative recovery and reduced length of stay, with safe, effective care among elective surgery patients. ERAS pathways should be adopted into the practice of elective surgery among sufficient resources available to provide effective, safe surgical care.