Safety of enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocol in the treatment of patients undergoing pancreatoduodenectomy

Objective: To study the effectiveness of enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocol versus traditional perioperative management in patients with hepatopancreatobiliary tumors undergoing pancreatoduodenectomy.

Methods: The study included 111 patients who have undergone pancreatoduodenectomy between January 2014 and December 2019. Patients were divided into 2 groups: perioperative ERAS protocol (85 patients) and traditional treatment (26 patients). Postoperative complications, length of hospital-stay and incidence of readmissions were analyzed.

Results: Mean length of hospital-stay for ERAS protocol was 13.4±7.6 days, conventional management - 16.5±7.5 days (p=0.004). Postoperative 30-day mortality was 8.24 and 7.7% in both groups, respectively (p=1.0). Intraoperative blood loss was significantly less in the ERAS group (248.24±214.0 vs. 321.15±155.0 ml, p=0.004). Overall incidence of postoperative complications was 56.5% and 65.4%, respectively (p=0.420). However, incidence of Clavien-Dindo grade IV complications was significantly higher in case of traditional treatment (19.2 vs. 4.7%, p=0.015). Readmission rate within 30 days was slightly less in the ERAS group (6.4 vs. 20.8%, p=0.052).

Conclusions: Enhanced recovery after surgery protocol is safe, reduces the number of postoperative complications, length of hospital-stay and rate of readmissions.