Pre- and postoperative stoma education and guidance within an enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) programme reduces length of hospital stay in colorectal surgery.

Pre- and postoperative stoma education and guidance within an enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) programme reduces length of hospital stay in colorectal surgery.

Forsmo HM, Pfeffer F, Rasdal A, Sintonen H, Körner H, Erichsen C. Pre- and postoperative stoma education and guidance within an enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) programme reduces length of hospital stay in colorectal
surgery. Int J Surg. 2016 Dec;36(Pt A):121-126. doi: 10.1016/j.ijsu.2016.10.031. Epub 2016 Oct 22.

What is already known:

In most colorectal ERAS RCTs, patients undergoing stoma formation are often excluded. This small single-centre study looked specifically at patients undergoing colorectal surgery with stoma formation.

What this paper adds:

Whilst the authors did not define the specifics of their ERAS programme they did detail how their stoma nurse specialists focused on preoperative counselling and stoma education. Their programme demonstrated a 3 day reduction in hospital length of stay; showing that with proper preparation, undergoing stoma formation does not necessarily need to be a barrier against following a successful ERAS programme.

Chris Jones, Guildford.