Enhanced Recovery After Surgery and Postoperative Nausea and Length of Stay in Mastectomy Patients With Reconstruction.

INTRODUCTION

Surgery is a mainstay of curative breast cancer treatment and is associated with postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) negatively impacting the patient experience. Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocols are a combination of evidence-based strategies applied to traditional perioperative practices with the goal to reduce postoperative complications. ERAS protocols have been traditionally underutilized in breast surgery. We investigated if the implementation of an ERAS protocol was associated with decreased rates of PONV as well as length of stay (LOS) in patients undergoing mastectomy with breast reconstruction.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective chart review case-control study in which we compared PONV and LOS between ERAS cases and non-ERAS controls. Our data set consisted of 138 ERAS cases and 96 non-ERAS controls. All patients were >18 y old and underwent mastectomy with immediate implant or tissue expander-based reconstruction between 2018 and 2020. The non-ERAS group consisted of procedure-matched controls that were treated prior to implementation of the ERAS protocol.

RESULTS

In univariate comparisons, patients who underwent the ERAS protocol had significantly decreased postoperative nausea (mean 37.5% of controls versus 18.1% of ERAS, P < 0.001) and shorter LOS (1.21 versus 1.49 d, P < 0.001). Using a multivariable regression to control for potential confounders, ERAS protocol was associated with less postoperative nausea (odds ratio [OR] = 0.26, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.13-0.5), LOS 1 d versus > 1 d (OR = 0.19, 95% CI = 0.1-0.35), and less postoperative ondansetron use (OR = 0.03, 95% CI = 0.01-0.07).

CONCLUSIONS

Our results indicate that implementation of the ERAS protocol in women undergoing mastectomy with immediate reconstruction is associated with improved patient outcomes in postoperative nausea and LOS.