Abstract
BACKGROUND: Barriers exist in implementing enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS), which aims to decrease postoperative complication rates and length of stay, because perioperative care is varied and compliance from a multidisciplinary team is critical to success. The objectives of this project were to evaluate the effectiveness of the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) database as a tool for the ongoing assessment of outcomes associated with ERAS and to evaluate ERAS as a quality-improvement strategy at a hospital-wide level. METHODS: Adult patients who underwent an elective colorectal procedure at The Ottawa Hospital between March 2010 and September 2015 were included. Information on demographic characteristics, functional status, medical background, procedure details and hospital length of stay (LOS) was abstracted from the NSQIP database. We compared data on outcomes (LOS, postoperative complications, unplanned return visits to the emergency department and 30-day mortality) before and after ERAS. RESULTS: We analyzed data for 609 patients (318 [52.2%] colon resection, 291 [47.8%] rectal resection; 190 [31.2%] before ERAS, 419 [68.8%] after ERAS). Significantly more patients were discharged within 5 days of surgery after ERAS than before (43.5% v. 29.1%, p < 0.05), and LOS more than 10 days was also reduced (23.7% v. 24.9%, p < 0.001). Implementation of ERAS was associated with an absolute reduction of 12% in postoperative complications and a significant reduction in surgical site infections among patients who underwent open procedures (p = 0.04). CONCLUSION: The introduction of an ERAS program for monitoring standardized perioperative care facilitates a data-driven approach to guide implementation of practice guidelines and establish the sustainability of ERAS protocols and data collection processes.