Complications and length of stay after enhanced recovery after surgery compared to conventional care in colorectal cancer patients in Northern Italy

Background This study aims to evaluate postoperative complications and length of stay in colorectal cancer patients undergoing ERAS vs. non-ERAS procedures in a population-based cohort in northern Italy. Methods Patient characteristics (ASA, tumor site, stage, treatment, BMI) were used. Complications, stratified by Clavien-Dindo and length of stay (LOS), were reported. The odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated to evaluate the difference between ERAS and non-ERAS patients. Results A total of 319 patients were included, divided into the non-ERAS group (113 patients) and the ERAS group (206 patients). Non-ERAS vs. ERAS group showed more complications (16.8% vs. 13.6%; p -value 0.44) and more days of hospitalization (7.3 vs. 4.8; p -value < 0.01), but less re-surgery (3.5% vs. 4.4%; p -value 0.72), new hospitalizations (3.5% vs. 5.8%; p -value 0.37) and death at 30 days (0.9% vs. 1.5%; p -value 0.66). Multivariate analysis revealed an increased risk in patients with ASA 4 [OR 6.6; 95% CI 1.9–22.6] and a modest, non-significant increase risk in the non-ERAS group [OR 1.3; 95% CI 0.7–2.5]. Conclusions ERAS procedures appear to be able to allow intervention even in older patients and those with comorbidities, without compromising the results.