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. 2023 Oct;210(4):696-703.
doi: 10.1097/JU.0000000000003593. Epub 2023 Jun 19.

Enhanced Recovery After Surgery for an Uncommon Complex Urological Procedure: The Complete Primary Repair of Bladder Exstrophy

Andrea K Balthazar  1 , Julia B Finkelstein  1 , Vivian Williams  1 , Ted Lee  1 , Debra Lajoie  2 , Tanya Logvinenko  1 , Young-Jo Kim  3 , Sabeena Chacko  4 , Joseph G Borer  1 , Richard S Lee  1
Affiliations

Enhanced Recovery After Surgery for an Uncommon Complex Urological Procedure: The Complete Primary Repair of Bladder Exstrophy

Andrea K Balthazar et al. J Urol. 2023 Oct.

Abstract

Purpose: ERAS (enhanced recovery after surgery) protocols are designed to optimize perioperative care and expedite recovery. Historically, complete primary repair of bladder exstrophy has included postoperative recovery in the intensive care unit and extended length of stay. We hypothesized that instituting ERAS principles would benefit children undergoing complete primary repair of bladder exstrophy, decreasing length of stay. We describe implementation of a complete primary repair of bladder exstrophy-ERAS pathway at a single, freestanding children's hospital.

Materials and methods: A multidisciplinary team developed an ERAS pathway for complete primary repair of bladder exstrophy, which launched in June 2020 and included a new surgical approach that divided the lengthy procedure into 2 consecutive operative days. The complete primary repair of bladder exstrophy-ERAS pathway was continuously refined, and the final pathway went into effect in May 2021. Post-ERAS patient outcomes were compared with a pre-ERAS historical cohort (2013-2020).

Results: A total of 30 historical and 10 post-ERAS patients were included. All post-ERAS patients had immediate extubation (P = .04) and 90% received early feeding (P < .001). The median intensive care unit and overall length of stay decreased from 2.5 to 1 days (P = .005) and from 14.5 to 7.5 days (P < .001), respectively. After final pathway implementation, there was no intensive care unit use (n=4). Postoperatively, no ERAS patient required escalation of care, and there was no difference in emergency department visits or readmissions.

Conclusions: Applying ERAS principles to complete primary repair of bladder exstrophy was associated with decreased variations in care, improved patient outcomes, and effective resource utilization. Although ERAS has typically been utilized for high-volume procedures, our study highlights that an enhanced recovery pathway is both feasible and adaptable to less common urological surgeries.

Keywords: bladder exstrophy; critical pathways; enhanced recovery after surgery; pediatrics; surgical specialties.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest Statement: The authors declare that they have no affiliations with or involvement in any organization or entity with any financial interest in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript.

Comment in

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