Barriers and Facilitators to Enhanced Recovery Protocol Implementation for Neonatal Intestinal Surgery

The Enhanced Recovery After Surgery Society published guidelines in 2020 for minimizing physiologic stress in neonatal patients who are undergoing intestinal surgery. This study explores stakeholder perceptions of the acceptability and adoption of a neonatal enhanced recovery protocol as well as barriers and facilitators to implementation.

We conducted seven semistructured focus groups, purposively selecting diverse stakeholders (N = 36) from six US hospitals. Transcripts were generated and transferred into MAXQDA for coding and analysis. We used a combined inductive and deductive approach to develop codes, followed by thematic analysis.

Implementation of the guidelines was variable, with wide adoption of some components (e.g., breastmilk as preferred nutrition) and limited acceptability of others (e.g., early postoperative enteral feeds). We identified five key barriers/facilitators: (1) the heterogeneity of the neonatal surgical population (e.g., degree of prematurity); (2) competing stakeholder priorities (e.g., caregiver values versus clinician assessment of risks/benefits); (3) aligning care across teams (e.g., clinician-clinician, clinician-caregiver communication); (4) the clarity/specificity of component definitions (e.g., "goal-directed fluid management"); and (5) responsiveness to change (e.g., nursing willingness to learn and trial mucous fistula refeeding).

This study provides a preimplementation assessment of an enhanced recovery protocol for neonatal intestinal surgery, highlighting the specific needs of this vulnerable population and identifying actionable refinements to existing guidelines. Broad, effective implementation will require greater consensus on the target population, alignment with stakeholder priorities, clearer care coordination strategies, refined component definitions, and increased openness to practice change.