Implementation of ERAS (Enhanced Recovery After Surgery) protocols for radical cystectomy patients: The pathway to...

The development of ERAS (Enhanced Recovery After Surgery) protocols in patients undergoing major surgery has brought perioperative benefits in several disciplines. Its main application in urology is focused on patients undergoing radical cystectomy.

Systematic review of the available literature on ERAS protocols applied to patients undergoing radical cystectomy in terms of perioperative outcomes as well in the analysis of their implementation.

A bibliographic search was conducted in the electronic databases PubMed, Embase, Cochrane and Scopus, using the terms «Cystectomy», «Enhanced Recovery After Surgery» and «Fast-Track». Randomized and non-randomized studies that compared the implementation of an ERAS protocol versus a traditional protocol in patients undergoing radical cystectomy were selected.

869 articles were identified; 25 were selected for final analysis: 22 non-randomized and 3 randomized studies. No differences were observed in terms of demographic characteristics between studies. Statistically significant differences were identified in favor of the ERAS protocol: length of hospital stay, major complication rate, time to first ambulation and return of bowel function. In the analysis of protocols, a high variability was detected in the number of items and in the implementation method.

The multidisciplinary nature and the number of items of the ERAS protocols imply a high heterogeneity in their implementation. Further randomized studies, standardized reporting and analyzing results, as well as a systematic analysis of subsequent adherence are required to increase comparability between groups.