Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) Protocols on Postoperative Outcomes in Patients Undergoing Major Abdominal Procedures

Significant postoperative morbidity, extended hospital stays, delayed recovery, and higher healthcare expenditures are linked to major abdominal surgeries, including colorectal, hepatobiliary, and gastric procedures. Prolonged fasting, copious IV fluids, delayed mobilization, and delayed oral meals are common components of traditional perioperative care, which may raise physiological stress and hinder surgical recovery. Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) guidelines have become a contemporary perioperative care strategy in recent years, with the goal of improving surgical outcomes and speeding recovery after major procedures.

In order to reduce surgical stress, maintain physiological function, and encourage early postoperative recovery, ERAS is a multidisciplinary, evidence-based treatment route that incorporates a number of perioperative techniques. Preoperative counseling, reduced fasting with carbohydrate loading, less invasive surgical procedures, multimodal analgesia, early mobilization, early oral feeding introduction, and other coordinated preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative therapies are all part of these protocols. ERAS protocols have been extensively used in various surgical specialties over the last ten years, especially in colorectal and other significant abdominal procedures. When compared to traditional perioperative treatment, a number of recent research and systematic reviews have shown that ERAS approaches considerably improve postoperative outcomes. Without raising readmission or death rates, ERAS implementation has been linked to fewer postoperative complications, an earlier recovery of bowel function, a shorter hospital stay, and lower healthcare costs