[Accelerated rehabilitation after colon resection]

Abstract

Introduction: The stay in hospital after colonic resection is usually 7-12 days, with a complication rate of 20%. A multi-modal rehabilitation regimen, comprising epidural analgesia, early mobilisation, and oral nutrition, reduced the hospital stay to 2-3 days after colonic resection.

Methods: One hundred patients underwent elective colonic resection with a planned postoperative stay of two days in hospital and a regimen with epidural analgesia, oral nutrition, and mobilisation. Anaesthesia, the surgical technique, and nursing care programme were standardised. Postoperative follow-up visits were arranged for day 8 and day 30.

Results: The median age was 73 years. Forty patients were at high risk, ASA III-IV. Gastrointestinal function (defecation) occurred within 48 hours, except for five patients, and the median hospital stay was two days. The readmission rate was 18% with no acute, potentially lethal conditions. The total hospital stay was three days. None of the patients had cardiopulmonary complications, except for one patient, who died from cardiac failure 36 hours after surgery. Three patients had anastomotic dehiscence, two of whom were treated conservatively.

Conclusion: The usual postoperative ileus, "medical complications", and hospital stay were reduced in high-risk patients undergoing colonic resection with a multi-modal rehabilitation programme. These results call for further comparative studies with conventional care programmes and laparoscopic colonic resection.