Expanding Pharmacotherapy Data Collection, Analysis, and Implementation in ERAS(®) Programs—The Methodology of an Exploratory Feasibility Study

Surgical organizations dedicated to the improvement of patient outcomes have led to a worldwide paradigm shift in perioperative patient care. Since 2012, the Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS(®)) Society has published guidelines pertaining to perioperative care in numerous disciplines including elective colorectal and gynecologic/oncology surgery patients. The ERAS(®) and ERAS-USA(®) Societies use standardized methodology for collecting and assessing various surgical parameters in real-time during the operative process. These multi-disciplinary groups have constructed a bundled framework of perioperative care that entails 22 specific components of clinical interventions, which are logged in a central database, allowing a system of audit and feedback. Of these 22 recommendations, nine of them specifically involve the use of medications or pharmacotherapy. This retrospective comparative pharmacotherapy project will address the potential need to (1) collect more specific pharmacotherapy data within the existing ERAS Interactive Audit System(®) (EIAS) program, (2) understand the relationship between medication regimen and patient outcomes, and (3) minimize variability in pharmacotherapy use in the elective colorectal and gynecologic/oncology surgical cohort. Primary outcomes measures include data related to surgical site infections, venous thromboembolism, and post-operative nausea and vomiting as well as patient satisfaction, the frequency and severity of post-operative complications, length of stay, and hospital re-admission at 7 and 30 days, respectively. The methodology of this collaborative research project is described.