Billions of dollars are spent each year on surgeries, and unintended complications only add to the total.1 The need for effective perioperative care— in hospital patient care prior to and following a surgical procedure— is essential. Proper perioperative care reduces postoperative complications, hospital readmissions, and overall costs. Simply put, employing innovative, best practice perioperative care today will result in better outcomes for patients and facilities tomorrow.

Enhanced Recovery After Surgery

Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) protocols seek to improve perioperative care by comprehensively re-examining traditional practices throughout all steps of the surgical process and replacing them with more effective evidence-based best practices to achieve healthier post-operative results and early patient recovery.2

ERAS addresses the key factors that keep patients in the hospital after surgery— the need for parenteral analgesia, the need for intravenous fluids secondary to gut dysfunction, and bed rest caused by lack of mobility. The program helps clarify how these factors interact to affect patient recovery. Further, ERAS guides medical professionals involved in perioperative care to work together as a cohesive unit to ensure the best possible patient care.

The ERAS Protocol Has Produced Remarkable Results

  • In a study at Ersta Hospital in Stockholm, Sweden, adherence to ERAS was assessed among 953 patients and compared with postoperative outcomes after colorectal cancer surgery.3 High adherence to the ERAS protocol resulted in a 25% lower risk of postoperative complications for patients, and a nearly 50% lower risk of postoperative symptoms delaying discharge, 30-day morbidity, and readmissions.
  • A study of 554 patients at an academic hospital was conducted to assess patient satisfaction, discharge needs, and follow-up concerns within an ERAS program.4 The conclusions showed that improved post-operative education for surgical patients prior to discharge helped decrease unplanned hospital visits during the immediate post-discharge period.
  • The University Hospital of Lausanne, Switzerland, conducted a study to observe and measure nursing workload before, during, and after systematic implementation of a comprehensive ERAS pathway in colorectal surgery.5 Although such intensive protocols are often assumed to increase nursing workload, the study found the opposite. The higher the compliance with the pathway, the lower the burden for the nursing staff.

AliMed Can Help Improve Perioperative Care

To ensure post-operative results remain positive once patients leave the hospital, they must have the tools necessary to comply with their discharge instructions. AliMed’s complete line of Aids for Daily Living, or ADLs, are the high-quality products patients need to fulfill their aftercare treatment plan. Specialized products, such as Joint Recovery Kits, Hip Kits, and Stroke Kits, not only lead to positive outcomes, but promote patient independence to achieve long-term recovery success and an overall improved quality of life.

To learn more about how AliMed’s wide selection of superior ADLs propel post-operative results while reducing costs and readmissions, visit https://www.alimed.com/adls/ today.

REFERENCES

  1. https://www.debt.org/medical/hospital-surgery-costs/
  2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3202008/
  3. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamasurgery/fullarticle/407379
  4. https://awww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28932946
  5. https://www.journal-surgery.net/article/S1743-9191(15)01290-X/fulltext

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