Retrospective Evaluation of Short-Term Outcomes of an Enhanced Recovery Protocol for Patients Undergoing Complex Abdominal Wall Reconstruction.

Background: Enhanced recovery protocols (ERPs) have the potential to streamline care and improve short-term outcomes for surgical patients. However, for patients undergoing modern iterations of complex abdominal wall reconstruction (AWR), little literature exists on the effectiveness of these protocols.

Study Design: In this retrospective study we reviewed our institutional experience with complex AWR throughout a 2-year period with 1 year immediately before and 1 year after implementation of our ERP. Patients undergoing primarily minimally invasive complex AWR who were compliant with 11 elements of our ERP were compared with patients who received surgery before implementation of the protocol or did not meet these criteria. Baseline patient characteristics and patient outcomes including hospital length of stay, narcotic usage, and readmission were compared across groups. Multivariable regression models were used to estimate the associations of our ERP protocol with outcomes adjusting for surgical approach.

Results: Median length of stay for the overall cohort (n = 132) was 3 days (interquartile range 1 to 4). Morbidity and mortality rates were 22.6% and 0.7%, respectively. ERP patients were less likely to have a complication (ERP compliant 8.7% [n = 46] vs non-ERP 30.2% [n = 86], p < 0.01), had a shorter median postoperative length of stay (median 1 vs 3 days, p < 0.01), and received fewer morphine equivalents (median 30.8 vs 45 mg, p < 0.01). Readmission rate for ERP patients did not differ significantly vs non-ERP patients (6.5% vs 11.8%, p = 0.34).

Conclusions: Use of ERPs in patients undergoing complex AWR may provide benefits for both patients and hospitals.