Impact of Enhanced Recovery Protocols on Short-Term Outcomes in Esophagectomy: A Retrospective Cohort Study from...

Surgery for esophageal cancer is associated with high mortality and morbidity, especially in low and middle-income countries. The recent enhanced recovery after surgery guidelines for esophagectomy (2018) which attempt to reduce complications and length of stay (LOS) have rarely been validated in these settings. This study aimed to analyse the effect of this protocol on short-term outcomes in our subset of patients.

A retrospective review was conducted to investigate the outcomes of enhanced recovery protocol (ERP) compared to standard pre-protocol care (PP) in patients who underwent esophagectomy for cancer (31 in ERP vs 61 in PP group) at Cancer Research Institute, Uttarakhand, India. The main outcomes measured were 30-day mortality, morbidity and LOS. Risk assessment was stratified as per Physiological and Operative Severity Score for the Enumeration of Mortality and Morbidity (POSSUM) systems while complications were classified as per the Clavien-Dindo scale.

Preoperative clinical characteristics were similar between groups. Though the predicted POSSUM mortality and morbidity were significantly higher in the ERP group (p = 0.007), 30-day morbidity (19.35% vs 42.62%, p = 0.027) as well as median LOS (12 vs 15 days, p < 0.001) was significantly lower in ERP group. The PP group reported 4 deaths within 30 days as compared to none in the ERP group (p = 0.296). Furthermore, the ERP group reported lower occurrence of pulmonary complications (6.4%vs24.6%,p = 0.046), hemodynamic instability (0%vs14.75%,p = 0.026) as well as need for prolonged postoperative ventilation (> 24 h; 0% vs 11.48%, p = 0.004). Both minor and major complications as assessed by the Clavien-Dindo scale were lower in the group ERP though these differences were not statistically significant (0.059).

Implementation of ERP improved short-term outcomes; hence can be strongly recommended in patients undergoing esophagectomy.