[A survey of perioperative therapy for elective colon resection in Germany, 2006]

Despite the evidence that fast-track concepts in colon surgery lead to an enhanced recovery rate, there is no information on the prevalence and utilization of such programs in Germany.

Based on a conventional sigmoid resection, we asked 1,270 surgical departments in Germany to describe their standard surgical procedures in a questionnaire.

The response rate was 385 (30.31%). A total of 96% use a bowel preparation, 83% a vertical incision, 10% use a nasogastric decompression for longer then 1 day, 34% avoid intra-abdominal drains, 51% allow clear fluids on the day of surgery, 13% offer solid food on the first day after surgery, 75% use epidural analgesia and 47% discharge the patients by the seventh day after surgery.

Although there is an evident benefit using fast-track concepts, they are not yet in wide use as a standard procedure. Further efforts have to be made to ensure that the majority of patients will benefit from these concepts.