Benchmarking enhanced recovery after surgery oesophagectomy mobilisation targets: A service evaluation

Background Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) encompasses standardised post-operative care for a wide-range of surgical specialties.ERAS is recommended following oesophagectomy surgery to reduce the risk of pulmonary complications and enable faster return to baseline function.Current ERAS oesophagectomy guidelines advocate early mobilisation as a key component but there is no clear guidance on mobility targets to aim for, or an evidence base to support setting specific mobilisation targets for these patients.A local service evaluation over six months, revealed that 74% (n = 23) of oesophagectomy patients did not achieve the ERAS day one or two post-operative mobility targets.Benchmarking mobility targets will allow comparison of the local ERAS targets in relation to those set in other upper gastrointestinal (UGI) centres and identify if the failure to achieve these is a local or national issue.Aims were to benchmark day one and two post-operative oesophagectomy ERAS mobility targets across similar sized UGI centres to the local trust determine how targets were established and identify potential reasons for failure to meet them.