Did the ERAS Protocol Improve Our Results in Locally Advanced Gastric Cancer Surgery?

ERAS is a protocol consisting of multidisciplinary approaches, including patient education, fluid resuscitation, keeping patients’ innormothermic state, early feeding, and mobilization. We aimed to present and compare the postoperative results of patients operated on due to locally advanced gastric cancer who received neoadjuvant therapy in two high-volume tertiary centers, and aimed to present that ERAS protocols can be applied with success without increasing the complication rate. This retrospective study consisted of two groups: a non-ERAS group and an ERAS group. The ERAS group consisted of 106 patients and the non-ERAS group consisted of 104 patients. The time to first flatus was shorter in the ERAS group compared with the non-ERAS group: 2.8 (1–5) and 3.5 (1–5, p = 0.008), respectively. The average stay at the hospital was 9 (7–22) days in thenon-ERAS group and 6.5 (5–14) days in the ERAS group. Readmission to the hospital within first 15 days after discharge was observed in one (%0.9) patient in the non-ERAS group and in four (%3.8) patients in the ERAS group. ERAS protocols contribute positively to the nutritional status of patients by reducing surgical stress and the rate of hospitalization, and reducing health costs. However, it appears to be associated with increased readmission rates.