Costs and clinical benefits of enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) in pancreaticoduodenectomy: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis

PURPOSE: ERAS is a holistic and multidisciplinary pathway that incorporates various evidence-based interventions to accelerate recovery and improve clinical outcomes. However, evidence on cost benefit of ERAS in pancreaticoduodenectomy remains scarce. This review aimed to investigate cost benefit, compliance, and clinical benefits of ERAS in pancreaticoduodenectomy. METHODS: A comprehensive literature search was conducted on Medline, Embase, PubMed, CINAHL and the Cochrane library to identify studies conducted between 2000 and 2021, comparing effect of ERAS programmes and traditional care on hospital cost, length of stay (LOS), complications, delayed gastric emptying (DGE), readmission, reoperation, mortality, and compliance. RESULTS: The search yielded 3 RCTs and 28 cohort studies. Hospital costs were significantly reduced in the ERAS group (SMD = − 1.41; CL, − 2.05 to − 0.77; P < 0.00001). LOS was shortened by 3.15 days (MD = − 3.15; CI, − 3.94 to − 2.36; P < 0.00001) in the ERAS group. Fewer patients in the ERAS group had complications (RR = 0.83; CI, 0.76–0.91; P < 0.0001). Incidences of DGE significantly decreased in the ERAS group (RR = 0.72; CI, 0.55–0.94; P = 0.01). The number of deaths was fewer in the ERAS group (RR = 0.76; CI, 0.58–1.00; P = 0.05). CONCLUSION: This review demonstrated that ERAS is safe and feasible in pancreaticoduodenectomy, improves clinical outcome such as LOS, complications, DGE and mortality rates, without changing readmissions and reoperations, while delivering significant cost savings. Higher compliance is associated with better clinical outcomes, especially LOS and complications.