New York—In study after study, enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocols have been shown to move patients from hospital to home efficiently and safely. Surgeons are hopeful that this approach may also lessen patient use of and dependence on opioid painkillers.
The hope stems from three tenets of ERAS protocols: Patients who undergo ERAS protocol procedures tend to have less pain than patients whose perioperative care follows a nonstandard pathway; ERAS protocols