Implementation of an ERAS protocol for pediatric metabolic and bariatric surgery: A single institutional perspective and lessons learned

Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocols have gained popularity in many surgical specialties. The overarching goals of ERAS include the use of comprehensive perioperative interventions to minimize postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV), incorporate multimodal pain control, including reduced postoperative opioid utilization, encourage early postoperative mobilization and ambulation, and achieve prompt re-initiation of enteral nutrition. While many adult surgical programs have demonstrated successful implementation of ERAS protocols, there have been few descriptions in pediatric surgical literature focused on implementation of such strategies. In this review, we provide an overview of current pediatric-focused ERAS literature and highlight our institution's experience with implementing an ERAS protocol in our pediatric metabolic and bariatric surgery program. A literature search was conducted to review ERAS experience in adult and pediatric surgery. Our institution's bariatric surgery program is described from the pre-ERAS period to the inception of our ERAS protocol, and the evolution into its current form. Over this time, we eliminated the routine use of nasogastric tubes and urinary catheters, expanded our pre-operative initiatives, limited intra-operative fluids, updated the intraoperative anesthetic regimen, broadened our multimodal pain and PONV management, and developed post-operative recovery-focused patient goals to improve fluid intake, increase early ambulation and pulmonary toilet resulting in a shortened hospital length of stay. Pediatric surgical programs can benefit from utilization of ERAS strategies to decrease the time to enteral nutrition, provide comprehensive pain and PONV control, facilitate early ambulation, and reduction in hospital length of stay. Our a single-institutional experience deploying ERAS within the pediatric metabolic and bariatric surgery service has been successful and serves as a model for other surgical sub-specialty service lines within our organization.