Before-and-After Study of the First Four Years of the Enhanced Recovery after Surgery (ERAS(®)) Programme in Older Adults Undergoing Elective Colorectal Cancer Surgery

Background: The aim of this study was to determine whether the inclusion of older patients undergoing elective colorectal cancer resection in the Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS(®)) programme could improve clinical outcomes during hospital admission. Methods: A before-and-after study in ≥70-year-old patients electively admitted for colorectal cancer resection was designed. In total, 213 patients were included in the ERAS(®) group, and 158 were included in the control group. Results: The average age was 77.9 years old (SD 5.31) and 57.14% of them were men, with a Charlson Index score of 3.42 (SD 3.32). The ERAS(®) group presented a lower transfusion rate of 42 (19.7%), compared to 75 (47.5%) in the control group (p < 0.001). The crude odds ratio (OR) for transfusion was 0.27 (95% CI 0.17–0.43; p < 0.001), and the adjusted odds ratio was 0.26 (95% CI 0.14–0.48; p < 0.001). The ERAS(®) group had a lower percentage of patients with moderate–severe malnutrition on admission, at 23.4% (37 patients) against 36.2% in the control group (42 patients) (p = 0.023), with an OR of 0.47 (95% CI 0.29–0.75; p < 0.002) and an adjusted OR of 0.48 (95% CI 0.29–0.78; p = 0.003). The number of patients who required admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) was also markedly lower: 54 from the ERAS(®) group (25.4%) versus 71 from the control group (44.9%) (p < 0.001). Conclusions: The inclusion of ≥70-year-old adults in the ERAS(®) programme resulted in a decrease in transfusions, number of erythrocyte concentrates transfused, and number of ICU admissions, along with improved nutritional status.