Enhanced Recovery after Surgery for Lung Cancer Patients

BACKGROUND: Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) is a perioperative treatment intended to speed up recovery of surgical patients. Pulmonary lobectomy is a high-risk procedure, which ERAS is intended to address. OBJECTIVE: We evaluated the application of ERAS to patients with lung cancer. INTERVENTIONS/METHODS: Of 337 patients who underwent pulmonary lobectomies for lung cancer at our hospital, 168 received traditional perioperative nursing, and 169 received ERAS. Their complication rates, numerical rating scale of pain (NRS), satisfaction with care, demographics and some inpatient indices before and after surgery were compared. RESULTS: The two groups did not significantly differ in general data or NRS score at 6 post-operative hours (P = 0.214) and 1 post-operative day (POD; P = 0.027). The ERAS group had lower incidence of postoperative lung complication (P = 0.008), shorter length of stay (P < 0.001), shorter enterokinesia recovery times (P < 0.001), lower hospitalization costs (P < 0.001), lower NRS scores at POD 2–5 (P < 0.001), higher nursing satisfaction (P < 0.001), and higher postoperative pulmonary function indices of maximal voluntary ventilation (MVV; P < 0.001), forced vital capacity (FVC; P = 0.002), and forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1; P = 0.002) than did the traditional group. CONCLUSION: ERAS is applicable to lung surgery patients. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Applying ERAS to thoracic surgery patients can alleviate their postoperative pain, shorten enterokinesia recovery, lower postoperative complication incidence, reduce hospitalization expenses, and raise nursing satisfaction, thereby expediting recovery.