Cure8 research brief
Shorter hospital stay after colorectal surgery can reduce disruption, infection risk, and costs. This review suggests ERAS pathways can shorten length of stay for people with IBD without increasing short-term readmissions or complications, though evidence quality is limited.
Patients with IBD planning colorectal surgery (including those facing colectomy/proctocolectomy/ileostomy), surgeons and perioperative teams, and researchers studying surgical care pathways.
This systematic review and meta-analysis pooled one randomized trial and 17 observational studies comparing enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocols versus conventional care in adults with inflammatory bowel disease undergoing colorectal surgery.
Across 15 studies (4,225 patients) ERAS was associated with a shorter hospital length of stay (mean ~1.6 days shorter). There were no clear differences in 30-day readmissions, reoperations, or complications, but the overall certainty of evidence was limited by risk of bias in mainly observational studies and lack of blinding.
ERAS typically bundles pre-, intra- and post-operative practices (e.g., preoperative optimisation, multimodal analgesia, early mobilization and feeding) and the authors note that procedure-specific ERAS pathways with more focused preoperative optimisation may offer additional benefit; however, this remains a hypothesis that needs confirmation in adequately powered randomized trials.
If you are facing colorectal surgery for IBD, ask your surgical team whether an ERAS pathway is used and what specific elements (preoperative optimisation, pain plan, early feeding/mobilization) you can expect. Discuss with clinicians whether any procedure-specific or IBD-tailored components will be applied to your care.
The review mainly included observational studies at serious risk of bias and only one RCT; results should be seen as supportive but not definitive. Subgroup findings about procedure-specific ERAS need randomized confirmation. This abstract-level summary is grounded in the article abstract provided.
Review the original publication for the complete reporting, methods, and context.
This Cure8 brief is based on source text from the linked article. Cure8 is informational only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
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