Cost saving in implementing ERAS protocol in emergency abdominal surgery

Area of Science:

• Surgical Innovation
• Health Economics
• Patient Outcomes

Background:

• Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) is standard for elective surgery.
• ERAS in emergency abdominal surgery lacks economic impact data.
• This study assesses ERAS cost-effectiveness in emergency settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• Evaluate cost savings of ERAS implementation in emergency abdominal surgery.
• Compare economic impact between ERAS and traditional care.
• Analyze the financial benefits within a single institution.

Main Methods:

• Compared 80 ERAS patients with 75 control patients undergoing gastrointestinal emergency surgery.
• Recorded adherence to postoperative care, length of stay, morbidity, and mortality.
• Performed a cost-saving analysis.

Main Results:

• ERAS group achieved 50% adherence to postoperative items by day 2.
• Laparoscopic approach was more frequent in the ERAS group (40% vs. 12%).
• ERAS reduced length of stay by 3 days (9 vs. 12 days) with similar morbidity/mortality.
• Mean cost saving of €1022.78 per patient in the ERAS group.

Conclusions:

• ERAS protocol implementation in emergency abdominal surgery is cost-effective.
• ERAS leads to a significant reduction in length of stay.
• ERAS offers substantial cost savings per patient in emergency surgical care.