The application of enhanced recovery after surgery in minimally invasive gastrectomy for gastric cancer: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
Haojie Jin, Shaoming Song, Tingting Lu, Shi‐Xun Ma, Yongfeng Wang, Liangyin Fu, Guangming Zhang, Xiaoyong Han, Leisheng Zhang, Kehu Yang, Hui Cai
Abstract
Objective We aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) for patients with gastric cancer undergoing minimally invasive surgery (MIS).Methods We searched the PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Embase, CNKI, VIP, WanFang, and CBM for relevant RCTs from the database inception until December 2021, for studies that compared the ERAS and traditional care (TC) in MIS for gastric cancer.Results A total of 25 RCTs comprising 2809 patients were included in this study. When compared with the traditional care TC group, the ERAS group had a shorter postoperative hospital stay [MD = −1.88,95%CI (−2.22, −1.55), P < 0.00001] and an earlier time at first postoperative flatus [MD = −18.12,95%CI (−21.45,-14.80), P < 0.00001] along with lower medical costs [SMD = −0.64, 95% CI (−0.85, −0.43), P < 0.00001] and an overall reduction in postoperative complication rates [RR = 0.55, 95% CI (0.44, 0.69), P < 0.00001]. However, the difference in the readmission rates was not significant.Conclusions ERAS can shorten the postoperative hospital stay, hasten the first postoperative flatus and reduce medical costs and overall postoperative complication rate without increasing readmission rates. Therefore, the ERAS protocol is preferable for gastric cancer patients undergoing MIS.