Enhanced recovery reduces hospitalization time

A trial of “quick recovery” the liver surgery department at Shanghai Cancer Center has achieved good results.

Through the one-year trial, the hospitalization time for patients dropped from 9.6 days to 7.3 days, after-surgery hospitalization time dropped from 7.5 days to 5.2 days and the cost of medicine in the total medical bill dropped from 32 percent to 24 percent, the hospital announced over the weekend.

According to Dr Wang Lu, director of liver surgery department, Enhanced Recovery is an multidisciplinary cooperation including surgery, anesthesia, nursing and nutrition .

“To achieve our goal, we set up doctor-nurse cooperation team, streamlined management before and after surgery and bettered procedure on diagnosis and treatment,” Wang said. “Each patient has a designated managing doctor and nurse to carry our pre-surgery education, in-surgery management and after-surgery direction like physical exercise and nutrition. We also focus on the reasonable choice of anesthesia method, method of surgery and regulation, management on circulation during surgery and respiration after surgery to help patients recover better and more quickly.”

After adopting the new theory, bleeding during surgery and pain after surgery both dropped compared with traditional liver surgery and patients’ adverse reactions dropped by 50 percent. Patients enjoy a quicker recovery, less time in hospital and pay less.

Wang said Enhanced Recovery doesn’t only focus on speeding up everything but is a patient-center theory, which requires careful and precise preparation, comprehensive management and education of patients for reduced complications and shorter hospitalizations.

“We want our ward to become a model of the new theory and practice and establish a guideline that can be applied nationwide,” he said.