Feasibility of enhanced recovery after surgery in gastric surgery: a retrospective study

BACKGROUND: Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) programs have been reported to be feasible and useful for maintaining physiological function and facilitating recovery after colorectal surgery. The feasibility of such programs in gastric surgery remains unclear. This study assessed whether an ERAS program is feasible in patients who undergo gastric surgery. METHODS: The subjects were patients who underwent gastric surgery between June 2009 and February 2011 at the Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Kanagawa Cancer Center. They received perioperative care according to an ERAS program. All data were retrieved retrospectively. The primary end point was the incidence of postoperative complications. The secondary end point was postoperative outcomes. RESULTS: A total of 203 patients were studied. According to the Clavien-Dindo classification, the incidence of ≥ grade 2 postoperative complications was 10.8% and that of ≥ grade 3 complications was 3.9%. Nearly all patients did not require delay of meal step-up (95.1%). Only 6 patients (3.0%) underwent reoperation. The median postoperative hospital stay was 9 days. Only 4 patients (2.0%) required readmission. There was no mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that our ERAS program is feasible in patients who undergo gastric surgery.