A cohort study of results following elective colonic and rectal resection within an enhanced recovery programme.

Objective: The use of laparoscopic surgery coupled with an enhanced recovery programme (ERP) has resulted in hospital stays of 4 or less days for colonic and 6 days following rectal resection, in previously reported small selected groups of patients. This report analyses an unselected cohort to determine if such benefits are reproducible.

Methods: Consecutive patients undergoing elective colonic or rectal surgery at a single centre between January 2002 and January 2006 were followed. All were included in the ERP and underwent either laparoscopic or open surgery.

Results: The study group comprised 241 patients (mean age of 67 +/- standard deviation 14 years and 49% male sex distribution) who underwent elective colorectal resection within the context of an ERP. One hundred and fifty-one (62.7%) patients had malignant disease. Overall, 191 (79.3%) patients underwent a laparoscopic procedure and the remaining underwent an open operation. Postoperative stay was shorter in patients undergoing laparoscopic vs open, colonic surgery (4 days vs 6 days, P = 0.002). A nonsignificant trend towards reduced postoperative stay was observed for patients undergoing laparoscopic vs open, rectal surgery (6 days vs 9 days, P = 0.088). Patients undergoing laparoscopic colectomy demonstrated significantly lower 30-day mortality rates than those undergoing traditional colectomy (3/131 vs 3/39, P = 0.049).

Conclusions: Laparoscopic colonic surgery in the context of an ERP offers reduced hospital stay and may confer a survival advantage over traditional techniques. These results confirm that previously reported benefits of laparoscopic surgery are reproducible within an unselected population.