Enhanced recovery after surgery improves clinical outcomes in adolescent bariatric surgery

Background: Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocols are evidence-based, multimodal approaches to optimize patient recovery and minimize complications.

Objectives: Our team evaluated clinical outcomes following the implementation of an ERAS protocol for adolescents undergoing metabolic and bariatric surgery.

Setting: Academic hospital, New York, NY, USA.

Methods: We performed a single-institution longitudinal assessment of adolescents who underwent laparoscopic vertical sleeve gastrectomy (VSG) between August 2021 and November 2022. Unpaired t-tests and Fisher's exact test were used to compare means between groups and categorical factors.

Results: Forty-three patients were included in the study, 21 who participated in the ERAS protocol and 22 control patients. ERAS cohort was 52% females, with a median age of 17.5 years and a median body mass index (BMI) of 46.3 kg/m². The non-ERAS cohort was 59% females, with a median age of 16.7 years and a median BMI of 44.0 kg/m². There were no significant differences between baseline characteristics. Patients in the ERAS group had a shorter time to oral intake (10.7 hours versus 21.5 hours, P < .01), lower morphine milligram equivalents (18.2 versus 97.0, P < .01), and shorter length of stay (1.5 days versus 2.0 days, P = .01). There were no significant differences between return visits to the emergency department (ED) within 30 days (3 versus 2, P = .66) or readmissions (0 versus 1, P = 1.0).

Conclusions: The described ERAS protocol is safe and effective in adolescents undergoing laparoscopic VSG and is associated with shorter time to oral intake, reduced opioid requirements, and shorter hospital lengths of stay with no increase in return ED visits or readmissions.