Patients’ refusal as major limitation of early discharge after colorectal resection in an enhanced recovery program

The reduction of length of hospitalization without compromising the patient’s safety constitutes the challenge of the enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) programs. Our aim was to evaluate the feasibility and safety of a 3-day hospitalization after colectomy and 5-day hospitalization after proctectomy in the setting of an ERAS program.

An ERAS program was prospectively proposed to all patients who required a colorectal resection (January 2014–December 2018) with a 3- or 5-day discharge objective. The success of the program was defined by a 3-/5-day hospitalization without complications and without readmissions.

Among 283 patients included, 232 patients had a colectomy (82%) and 51 (18%) patients a proctectomy. Eighty-six patients experienced complications (30%) including fifteen severe complications (5%). Mean hospital stay was 5.1 ± 3.7 (2–33) days. A total of 136 patients (48%) were discharged at 3-/5-day, within 9 were readmitted (3%). Discharge was delayed after 3-/5-day for complications (n = 65, 23%), CRP > 120 (n = 45, 16%) or refusal without medical reason (n = 37, 13%). The success rate of the program was 45% (n = 127). This success rate was similar between colectomy and proctectomy (p = 0.277) and between right and left colectomy (p = 0.450). In multivariate analysis, predictive factors associated with the program success were intraoperative use of lidocaine (OR 2.1 [1.1–4.1], p = 0.022), time to remove perfusion ≤ 2 days (OR 10.3 [5.4–19.6], p = 0.001), time to recover bowel movement ≤ 2 days (OR 4.0 [1.7–9.6], p = 0.002) and time to walk out of the room ≤ 2 days (OR 2.6 [1.1–6.0], p = 0.022).

Integrating a realistic hospitalization duration objective into an ERAS program guarantees its safety, feasibility and effectiveness in reducing hospitalization duration.