Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) programs for esophagectomy protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis

Impacts of enhanced recovery after surgery nursing interventions on wound infection and complications following bladder cancer surgery: A meta-analysis

A meta-analysis was executed to comprehensively examine the impacts of enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) care interventions on complications and wound infections following bladder cancer (BCa) surgery. Computer searches were carried out in Embase, Google Scholar, Cochrane Library, PubMed, Wanfang and CNKI, from their inception to November 2023, for RCTs regarding perioperative ERAS nursing interventions in patients with BCa. Two independent researchers performed literature screening, extracted data and carried out quality evaluations. Stata 17.0 software was utilized for the analysis of the data. Ultimately, 16 RCTs, involving 1190 patients, were included. The analysis showed that, in comparison with conventional nursing methods, perioperative ERAS nursing application in patients with BCa remarkably decreased the occurrence of wound infections (OR: 0.31, 95% CI: 0.16-0.59) and complications (OR: 0.19, 95% CI: 0.13-0.28). Our study indicates that perioperative care based on the ERAS concept remarkably decreased the occurrence of wound infections and complications following BCa surgery, demonstrating notable nursing efficacy and meriting widespread clinical promotion.

Effects of neoadjuvant chemotherapy vs chemoradiotherapy in the treatment of esophageal adenocarcinoma: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Neoadjuvant therapy is an essential modality for reducing the clinical stage of esophageal cancer; however, the superiority of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (nCT) or neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) is unclear. Therefore, a discussion of these two modalities is necessary.

AIM

To investigate the benefits and complications of neoadjuvant modalities.

METHODS

To address this concern, predefined criteria were established using the PICO protocol. Two independent authors performed comprehensive searches using predetermined keywords. Statistical analyses were performed to identify significant differences between groups. Potential publication bias was visualized using funnel plots. The quality of the data was evaluated using the Risk of Bias Tool 2 (RoB2) and the GRADE approach.

RESULTS

Ten articles, including 1928 patients, were included for the analysis. Significant difference was detected in pathological complete response (pCR) [P < 0.001; odds ratio (OR): 0.27; 95%CI: 0.16-0.46], 30-d mortality (P = 0.015; OR: 0.4; 95%CI: 0.22-0.71) favoring the nCRT, and renal failure (P = 0.039; OR: 1.04; 95%CI: 0.66-1.64) favoring the nCT. No significant differences were observed in terms of survival, local or distal recurrence, or other clinical or surgical complications. The result of RoB2 was moderate, and that of the GRADE approach was low or very low in almost all cases.

CONCLUSION

Although nCRT may have a higher pCR rate, it does not translate to greater long-term survival. Moreover, nCRT is associated with higher 30-d mortality, although the specific cause for postoperative complications could not be identified. In the case of nCT, toxic side effects are suspected, which can reduce the quality of life. Given the quality of available studies, further randomized trials are required.

Preoperative nutritional counselling in patients undergoing oesophagectomy

BACKGROUND

Patients undergoing surgery for oesophageal cancer are at high risk of malnutrition due to pathology and neoadjuvent therapy. This study sought to determine if oesophageal cancer patients undergoing oesophagectomy achieve superior clinical outcomes when preoperative nutritional counselling is performed.

METHODS

Oesophageal cancer patients undergoing oesophagectomy were retrospectively divided into cohorts based on those who received (n = 48) and did not receive (n = 58) preoperative nutritional counselling. We compared weight loss, length of stay, 30-day readmission related to nutrition or feeding tube problems, and 90-day mortality.

RESULTS

Per cent weight loss was less in patients who received preoperative nutritional counselling. There was a trend toward decreased mean length of stay and there were fewer readmissions for feeding tube-related complications in patients who received counselling.

CONCLUSIONS

Nutritional counselling before surgery may lead to decreased weight loss and reduced readmissions for feeding tube-related complications in patients with oesophageal cancer undergoing oesophagectomy.

Enhanced Recovery After Cardiac Surgery: A Propensity-Matched Analysis

Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) pathways have improved clinical outcomes, cost-effectiveness, and patient satisfaction across multiple non-cardiac surgical specialties. Since the adaptation of ERAS in cardiac surgery is rapidly increasing yet still evolving, herein, we demonstrate early results of our implementation of ERAS cardiac guidelines. We retrospectively reviewed all patients who were managed with our institutional ERAS Cardiac Surgery guidelines between 5/2018 and 6/2019(N = 102). Postoperative primary outcomes (total ventilation times(hours), intensive-care unit(ICU) stay, and postoperative hospital length of stay (LOS)) were compared to 1:1 propensity matched controls from the pre ERAS era between January 2017 and March 2019. A total of 76 propensity-matched pairs were identified. Compared to the matched controls, ERAS patients had significantly shorter median ventilation times(3.5 vs. 5.3 hours, p = .01), ICU stays(median 28 vs 48 hours, p=.005) and postoperative hospital LOS (median 5 vs. 6 days, p = .03). There were no operative mortalities and no significant differences in 30-day readmission rates. There were also no significant differences in post-operative stroke, acute kidney injury, atrial fibrillation, and reoperation rates for bleeding. Two-year survival was also not statistically different between the two cohorts (p = .22). Our initial experience with implementation of ERAS protocols in cardiac surgery appear to demonstrate that these protocols are associated with shorter ventilation times, ICU stay, and hospital LOS without compromising patient outcomes. While these results are promising yet preliminary, further studies are warranted to demonstrate whether ERAS algorithms in cardiac surgery can consistently expedite postoperative recovery and improve outcomes.

Application effects of targeted nursing model in patients undergoing thyroid surgery and its influence on patients' negative emotions

OBJECTIVE

To explore the effectiveness of a targeted nursing model for patients undergoing thyroid surgery, and to analyse the influence of intervention on the negative emotions of patients.

METHODS

Eighty patients who received thyroid surgery in our hospital were enrolled and divided into a study group (n=40, given targeted nursing) and a control group (n=40, given routine surgical nursing) according to the difference of intervention measures. The postoperative bed-leaving time, hospitalization time, medical expenses, drainage tube indwelling time and incidence of postoperative adverse reactions were compared between the two groups. The degree of pain, anxiety and depression was compared between the two groups at 1 d, 3 d, 5 d, and 7 d after surgery. The scales of voice handicap index (VHI-10) and standard swallowing assessment (SSA) were used to evaluate voice quality and swallowing function in the two groups.

RESULTS

The postoperative bed-leaving time, hospitalization time, medical expenses, drainage tube indwelling time and incidence of postoperative adverse reactions of patients in the study group were lower than those in the control group (P<0.05). The scores of visual analogue scale (VAS), self-rating anxiety scale (SAS) and self-rating depression scale (SDS) in the study group at 3 d, 5 d and 7 d after surgery were lower than those in the control group (P<0.05). The scores of VHI-10 and SSA in the study group were lower than those in the control group at 7 d and 30 d after surgery (P<0.05).

CONCLUSION

Targeted nursing for patients undergoing thyroid surgery can help accelerate the improvement of postoperative clinical symptoms, relieve the unhealthy emotions and pain of patients, and help improve their voice quality and swallowing function, which also has a positive effect on reducing postoperative complications. Therefore, it is worthy of clinical popularization and application.

Expert Consensus of Data Elements for Collection for Enhanced Recovery After Cardiac Surgery

BACKGROUND

Despite the emergence of Enhanced Recovery Protocols (ERPs) in cardiac surgery, there is no consensus on the essential elements for data reporting for quality improvement efforts, as well as accountability and standardization of outcome reporting across institutions. The aim of this study was to establish a consensus on essential data elements for cardiac ERAS®.

METHODS

A 2-round modified Delphi technique was utilized based on existing recommendations from the recently published ERAS® cardiac surgery consensus guidelines. Round 1 included a steering committee of 10 experts who oversaw formulation of a focused list of data elements into 3 main areas: Preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative. Round 2 consisted of a multidisciplinary, multinational, heterogenous group of 50 voting experts from across the United States and Europe. All participants evaluated their level of agreement with each data element using a 5-point Likert scale with consensus threshold of 70%.

RESULTS

In round 1, 17 data elements were considered essential (consensus >  = 70%, either positive or negative) and 6 were considered marginal (consensus <  = 70%, either positive or negative). In round 2, positive consensus was achieved for 15/17 (88.2%) data elements in the essential category, and all six data elements (100%) in the marginal category, indicating a high level of overall agreement.

CONCLUSION

This initial study, which identified 21 key data elements for collection in an ERAS® cardiac program, will aid clinicians in establishing a framework for evaluating the quality of their contemporary ERP processes and will allow acquisition of data to help benchmark performance metrics between hospitals.

[Enhanced recovery after surgery-Does the ERAS concept keep its promises]

INTRODUCTION

Perioperative enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) concepts or fast-track are supposed to accelerate recovery after surgery, reduce postoperative complications and shorten the hospital stay when compared to traditional perioperative treatment.

METHODS

Electronic search of the PubMed database to identify systematic reviews with meta-analysis (SR) comparing ERAS and traditional treatment.

RESULTS

The presented SR investigated 70 randomized controlled studies (RCT) with 12,986 patients and 93 non-RCT (24,335 patients) concerning abdominal, thoracic and vascular as well as orthopedic surgery. The complication rates were decreased under ERAS following colorectal esophageal, liver and pulmonary resections as well as after implantation of hip endoprostheses. Pulmonary complications were reduced after ERAS esophageal, gastric and pulmonary resections. The first bowel movements occurred earlier after ERAS colorectal resections and delayed gastric emptying was less often observed after ERAS pancreatic resection. Following ERAS fast-track esophageal resection, anastomotic leakage was diagnosed less often as well as surgical complications after ERAS pulmonary resection. The ERAS in all studies concerning orthopedic surgery and trials investigating implantation of a hip endoprosthesis or knee endoprosthesis reduced the risk for postoperative blood transfusions. Regardless of the type of surgery, ERAS shortened hospital stay without increasing readmissions.

CONCLUSION

Numerous clinical trials have confirmed that ERAS reduces postoperative morbidity, shortens hospital stay and accelerates recovery without increasing readmission rates following most surgical operations.

ACERTO PROJECT: IMPACT ON ASSISTANCE OF A PUBLIC EMERGENCY HOSPITAL

Background:

In Brazil, the goal-based approach was named Project ACERTO and has obtained good results when applied in elective surgeries with shorter hospitalization time, earlier return to activities without increased morbidity and mortality.

Aim:

To analyze the impact of ACERTO on emergency surgery care.

Methods:

An intervention study was performed at a trauma hospital. Were compared 452 patients undergoing emergency surgery and followed up by the general surgery service from October to December 2018 (pre-ACERTO, n=243) and from March to June 2019 (post-ACERTO, n=209). Dietary reintroduction, volume of infused postoperative venous hydration, duration of use of catheters, probes and drains, postoperative analgesia, prevention of postoperative vomiting, early mobilization and physiotherapy were evaluated.

Results:

After the ACERTO implantation there was earlier reintroduction of the diet, the earlier optimal caloric intake, earlier venous hydration withdrawal, higher postoperative analgesia prescription, postoperative vomiting prophylaxis and higher physiotherapy and mobilization prescription were achieved early in all (p<0.01); in the multivariate analysis there was no change in the complication rates observed before and after ACERTO (10.7% vs. 7.7% (p=0.268) and there was a decrease in the length of hospitalization after ACERTO (8,5 vs. 6,1 dias (p=0.008).

Conclusion:

The implementation of the ACERTO project decreased the length of hospital stay, improved medical care provided without increasing the rates of complications evaluated.

Feeding jejunostomy in upper gastrointestinal resections: a UK-wide survey

INTRODUCTION

The usage of a feeding jejunostomy has been a well-established practice in maintaining nutrition in patients undergoing resections for upper gastrointestinal cancer. As surgical technique has evolved, together with the adoption of enhanced recovery after surgery pathways, the routine insertion of feeding jejunostomy tubes appears to be changing.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A survey was constructed using Google Forms. The link was distributed to consultant upper gastrointestinal surgeons via the Association of Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeons' membership database. Results were collated and analysed using Microsoft Excel.

RESULTS

A total of 55 responses were received from 28 units across the UK; 27 respondents (49.1%) no longer routinely use feeding jejunostomy in upper gastrointestinal resections, oesophagectomy or gastrectomy. The most common primary feeding modality used by these respondents was oral diet 17 (65.4%), with total parenteral nutrition (19.2%) and nasojejunal (11.5%) routes also being used. Respondents who used feeding jejunostomies inserted them primarily for oesophagectomy (n = 27; 96.4%), with fewer surgeons using them in extended total gastrectomy (n = 12; 42.9%) and total gastrectomy (n = 11; 39.3%). Of the total, 20 surgeons (71.4%) would insert the jejunostomy using an open approach, with 19 (67.9%) employing a Witzel tunnel. Eleven respondents (39.3%) would continue feeding via the jejunostomy after discharge. Some 24 responders thought that feeding jejunostomies did not facilitate the enhanced recovery after surgery pathway (strongly and slightly disagree), whereas 17 considered that they did (strongly and slightly agree); 13 responders did not have strong views either way.

CONCLUSIONS

There is a split in current practice regarding the usage of feeding jejunostomies. There is also a division of opinion on the role of feeding jejunostomy in enhanced recovery after surgery.

Evaluation of Enhanced Recovery After Following a Surgical Protocol for Cytoreductive Surgery and Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy for Peritoneal Carcinomatosis

Introduction:

Cytoreductive surgery with or without hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (CRS ± HIPEC) has positive effects on the survival of patients with peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC) due to intra-abdominal tumors. Currently, the available literature on the safety of the Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) protocol for PC, which is associated with severe morbidity and mortality, is insufficient.

Aim:

This study aimed to present our results from treating patients using the ERAS protocol for PC that developed due to intra-abdominal tumors.

Material and Methods:

The data of 120 consecutive patients with PC due to different etiologies of abdominal origin and who underwent CRS ± HIPEC were analyzed. The patients were divided into two groups according to whether the ERAS protocol was applied. Information on demographics, length of hospital stay, cost, morbidity, and mortality was statistically compared between groups.

Results:

A total of 102 patients were included in the study. The first 40 patients did not undergo the ERAS protocol, whereas 62 patients did undergo the protocol. The mean length of hospital stay was 10 days in the non-ERAS group and 7 days in the ERAS group. The ERAS group was observed to have earlier mobilization, earlier gas and stool release, lower oral intake, and fewer respiratory problems than the non-ERAS group.

Conclusion:

CRS ± HIPEC has a positive effect on survival. The simultaneous application of the ERAS protocol with the aforementioned procedure has positive effects on intestinal motility and postoperative outcomes. In addition, this protocol may reduce costs by shortening the length of hospital stay.

Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) pathway for primary hip and knee arthroplasty: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Background

With the substantially growing trend of the aging populations in China and the rest of the world, the number of total hip and total knee arthroplasty (THA and TKA) cases are increasing dramatically. It is important to develop practical strategies to improve the quality of healthcare and better outcome for patients undergoing THA and TKA. Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) pathways have been reported to promote earlier recovery and be beneficial for patients. We propose the hypothesis that the ERAS pathway could reduce the length of stay (LOS) in hospital for patients undergoing primary THA or TKA.

Methods/Design

This trial is a prospective, open-labelled, multi-centered, randomized controlled trial that will test the superiority of the ERAS pathway in term of LOS in hospital for the patients undergoing primary THA or TKA compared to current non-ERAS clinical practice. A total of 640 patients undergoing primary THA or TKA will be randomly allocated to either ERAS pathway (ERAS group) or conventional care according to individual participating center (non-ERAS group). The primary outcome is the total LOS in hospital; the secondary outcomes include postoperative LOS, all-cause mortality by 30 days after operation, in-hospital complications, early mobilization, postoperative pain control, total in-hospital cost, and readmission rate by 30 days after discharge from the hospital.

Discussion

This trial is designed to evaluate the superiority of the ERAS pathway to conventional non-ERAS clinical practice in reducing the LOS. The results may provide new insight into the clinical applications of the ERAS pathway for THA and TKA.

Trial registration

National Institutes of Health Clinical Trials Registry, NCT03517098. Registered on 4 May 2018.

Smoking and pulmonary complications: respiratory prehabilitation

The severity of the clinical condition and co-morbidities of the patients for esophagectomy require a complex assessment and risk stratification before the operation, and most of the cases need complex management. We did a literature search and considered the data on risk stratification and complex management of patients who undergo thoracic surgery. Smoking cessation programs can protect against complications, which is related to the respiratory system, the heart and the convalescence of the wounds in postoperative condition, but the timing is critical due to the operation. A complex team of physicians and healthcare professionals, as well as respiratory prehabilitation, can help to improve the clinical condition, chest kinematics, lung mechanics, peripheral and respiratory muscle function, metabolism and quality of life of this type of patients. We need to consider a complex risk stratification before esophagectomy and require complex management for these patients, including smoking cessation and respiratory prehabilitation, to improve the post-operative complications.