Enhanced Recovery After Surgery, Gastrectomy for Gastric Cancer
Conditions
Keywords
enhanced recovery after surgery, stomach neoplasms, gastrectomy for gastric cancer, pain, postoperative
Brief summary
This prospective, randomized, open-label, multicenter study is designed to evaluate the impact of an enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocol on the rate of meeting discharge criteria in patients undergoing minimally-invasive gastrectomy for gastric cancer. We hypothesize that implementation of our ERAS protocol will significantly increase the proportion of patients who meet standardized discharge criteria following minimally-invasive gastrectomy.
Detailed description
Adult patients undergoing elective minimally invasive gastrectomy were randomly allocated to receive either the ERAS protocol (n = 154) or the conventional protocol (n = 154). The conventional group received the current standard perioperative care at our institution, whereas the ERAS group received a newly developed ERAS protocol, which included preoperative carbohydrate loading, reduced perioperative fasting duration, and multimodal opioid-sparing analgesia. The primary outcome was the proportion of patients who met standardized discharge criteria at 9:00 AM on postoperative day 4. Secondary outcomes included the EQ-5D-5L index assessed at 24, 48, 72, and 96 hours postoperatively; pain intensity at rest and during coughing measured using an 11-point numeric rating scale at 2, 24, 48, and 72 hours postoperatively; gastrointestinal dysfunction assessed using the I-FEED score at 24, 48, and 72 hours postoperatively; the incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting within 0-24, 24-48, and 48-72 hours after surgery; the incidence of major postoperative complications classified by the Clavien-Dindo grading system during hospitalization; and postoperative length of hospital stay.
Interventions
The ERAS protocol includes pre-admission patient education through audiovisual materials; reduction of perioperative fasting duration with preoperative carbohydrate loading and early postoperative oral intake; multimodal prophylaxis for postoperative nausea and vomiting; early removal of surgical drains and intravenous lines; early mobilization; and multimodal analgesia aimed at minimizing postoperative opioid use. The detailed protocol used in this study has been published previously \[https://doi.org/10.5230/jgc.2025.25.e27\].
Sponsors
Study design
Intervention model description
A prospective randomized open-labeled, multicenter study
Eligibility
Inclusion criteria
* Adults aged ≥19 years scheduled to undergo elective laparoscopic or robotic gastrectomy for gastric cancer * American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status classification I to III * Ability to provide written informed consent, demonstrate understanding of the study protocol, and complete patient-reported outcome measures appropriately
Exclusion criteria
* Requirement for resection of organs other than the stomach during surgery (except for cholecystectomy) * History of upper abdominal surgery (except for cholecystectomy) * Known hypersensitivity to fentanyl, ropivacaine, acetaminophen, or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs * Determined by the investigator or study personnel to be otherwise unsuitable for participation in the study
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Proportion of patients who fulfilled all of the predefined discharge criteria | At 9:00 AM on postoperative day | Discharge criteria were defined as meeting all of the following conditions: * Tolerance of a soft blended diet (SBD) for at least 24 hours * Unaided ambulation of at least 600 meters * Adequate pain control, defined as a numeric rating scale (NRS) score of ≤ 3, achieved with oral non-opioid analgesics * Absence of abnormal physical examination findings or laboratory test results |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Postoperative pain score | postoperative 2, 24, 48, and 72 hours | 11-pointed NRS pain score at resting/coughing NRS (0-10): 0,no pain; 10, worst pain imaginable |
| Postoperative gastrointestinal dysfunction | postoperative 24, 48, and 72 hours | I-FEED score 3 points or more (postoperative gastrointestinal intolerance and dysfunction) |
| Postoperative nausea and vomiting | From the end of surgery to 24, 48, and 72 hours postoperatively | Incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting (%) |
| Quality of recovery assessed using the EQ-5D-5L questionnaire | postoperative 24, 48, and 72 hours | EQ-5D-5L index scores are calculated from the EQ-5D-5L questionnaire using the Korean value set validated for the Korean population. (range: 0 to 1.000, with higher scores indicating better recovery) (Kim SH, Ahn J, Ock M, et al. The EQ-5D-5L valuation study in Korea. Qual Life Res. 2016; 25: 1845-1852) |
| Major postoperative complication | At 30 days postoperatively | Major postoperative complications are defined as events classified as Clavien-Dindo grade IIIa or higher and are assessed based on their incidence within 30 days after surgery. |
Countries
South Korea