Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS®) Society abdominal and thoracic surgery recommendations: A systematic review and comparison of guidelines for perioperative and pharmacotherapy core items

INTRODUCTION: Society abdominal and thoracic surgery (ATS) guidelines. Determining whether a consensus exists for pharmacological core items would make future guideline preparation for similar surgeries more standardized and could improve patient care by reducing unnecessary protocol variations. METHODS: protocol development, and (c) propose potential research directions for addressing the identified gaps in the literature. RESULTS: Core items with consensus included: preoperative smoking and alcohol cessation; avoiding bowel reparation and fasting; multimodal preanesthetic, perioperative analgesia, and postoperative nausea and vomiting regimens; low molecular weight heparins for in-hospital and at-home venous thromboembolism prophylaxis; antibiotic prophylaxis; skin preparation; goal-directed perioperative fluid management with balanced crystalloids; perioperative nutrition care; ileus prevention with peripherally-acting mu receptor antagonists; and glucose control. CONCLUSION: guideline core items related to pharmacotherapy choice, details related to doses, regimen, timing of administration as well as unique aspects pertaining to specific surgeries remain to be researched and harmonized to promote guideline consistency and further optimize patient outcomes.