Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocol in stoma reversals

Objective: to compare the length of hospital stay and return of bowel movement using the conventional management versus ’enhanced recovery after surgery’ protocol. methods: this study was conducted at the civil hospital,karachi,from june 2014 to may 2015,and comprised patients undergoing stoma reversal. patients were randomly allocated in two equal groups,i.e. a (treated with conventional peri-operative management) and b (with ’enhanced recovery after surgery’ protocol). prolonged ileus,wound infection and length of hospital stay between the two groups were compared. spss 20 was used for statistical analysis. results: there were 60 participants who were divided into two groups of 30(50%) each. overall,39(65%) patients were males and 21(35%) were females. the mean age was 27.80±9.99 years in group a and 23.87±4.56 years in group b. besides,25(83%) patients in group a had prolonged ileus compared to 3(10.7%) in group b (p=0.00). moreover,14(46.7%) patients in group a and 8(26.7%) patients in group b had wound infection (p=0.10). the mean duration of hospital stay was also less in group b compared to group a (p<0.05). conclusion: the application of ’enhanced recovery after surgery’ protocol was found to be safe. © 2017,pakistan medical association. all rights reserved.