Proposal for perioperative medicine in Mexico: Enhance Recovery After Surgery protocol applied to cesarean section

Abstract

The perioperative management of patients scheduled for elective surgery is changing and thus leaving behind the expertise or the habits previously acquired during practice. It has been demonstrated that the quick postsurgical recovery shortens both the time in hospital and recovery, and also contributes to the decrease of perioperative complications and costs. With the creation of the Protocol of Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS), there came the development of a combination of strategies related to the patient’s care; from the moment the surgical intervention is decided to the discharge from hospital. These based on scientific evidence guidelines are a set of multimodal strategies whose foundations rely on the early recovery of the patient’s physiological functions. At first the guidelines were created for colon and rectal surgeries, however, they have been transferred to different specialties, including obstetric and gynecological patients, with the benefit of going further in the improvement of clinical results, as it counts on the potential of accelerating the recovery of the obstetrical patient in transition to both motherhood and care to the newborn. The objective of this article is to review the main components of ERAS protocol and its application in the cesarean section surgery so as to enhanced the quality in the provision of care.