Development of the Korean enhanced recovery after surgery audit program

Area of Science:

• Perioperative Medicine
• Surgical Outcomes Research
• Health Informatics

Background:

• Effective audit programs are crucial for successful Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) implementation.
• South Korea lacked a specific ERAS audit system tailored to its healthcare context.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate the Korean ERAS Research and Audit System (K-ERAS) for monitoring ERAS compliance.
• To assess perioperative data completeness, dashboard functionality, and ERAS adherence rates in colorectal cancer surgery patients.

Main Methods:

• Development of the K-ERAS, integrating data from a prospective observational study.
• Real-time dashboard for visualizing perioperative outcomes and data completeness.
• Analysis of data from 556 colorectal cancer surgery patients (October 2023 - October 2024).

Main Results:

• Successful data entry and visualization of perioperative data using K-ERAS.
• Overall ERAS compliance rate of 47.4%.
• Low adherence observed in perioperative fasting protocols (e.g., 0.9% for carbohydrate loading) and pain management (e.g., 2.7% for preemptive analgesia).

Conclusions:

• K-ERAS is a reliable and adaptable system for managing perioperative data in an ERAS framework.
• Significant gaps in adherence to fasting and pain management protocols were identified, indicating a need for targeted interventions.