Enhanced Recovery After Liver Surgery: Does Compliance Impact Survival?

Enhanced recovery programs (ERPs) improve short-term outcomes after liver surgery (LS), but their impact on survival remains uncertain. This study evaluated the association between ERP compliance and survival in a large multicenter cohort.

This prospective European multicenter cohort included adults undergoing elective LS between 2016 and 2024 in 10 centers implementing Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS)-consistent ERPs. Compliance was defined as the proportion of 21 fulfilled items with high compliance (≥70%). A 1:1 propensity score-matching was performed to balance baseline characteristics. The primary outcome was 12 month overall survival (OS). Secondary outcomes included predictors of 12 month and long-term OS and cancer-specific subgroup analyses. Cox regression models, Kaplan-Meier analyses, and sensitivity analyses including center effects were used.

Among 1860 patients, 453 (24.4%) achieved high ERP compliance. After matching, 437 well-balanced pairs (n = 874) were analyzed. The 12-month OS did not differ significantly between the high- and low-compliance groups before (95% vs. 92%; p = 0.081) or after (96% vs. 92%; p = 0.11) matching. In the matched cohort, high ERP compliance was not independently associated with 12 month mortality (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.68; 95% confidence interval, 0.36-1.30; p = 0.20). Long-term mortality was independently associated with metastatic disease, operative duration longer than180 min, and intraoperative hypotension. In subgroup analyses after matching, improved survival with high compliance was observed only for patients with colorectal liver metastases (p = 0.029).

High ERP compliance reduces perioperative morbidity but is not independently associated with 12 month or long-term survival after LS.