Evidence Review Conducted for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Safety Program for Improving Surgical Care and Recovery: Focus on Anesthesiology for Total Knee Arthroplasty

Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) has rapidly gained popularity in a variety of surgical subspecialities. A large body of literature suggests that ERAS leads to superior outcomes, improved patient satisfaction, reduced length of hospital stay, and cost benefits, without affecting rates of readmission after surgery. These patterns have been described for patients undergoing elective total knee arthroplasty (TKA); however, adoption of ERAS to orthopedic surgery has lagged behind other surgical disciplines. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, in partnership with the American College of Surgeons and the Johns Hopkins Medicine Armstrong Institute (AI) for Patient Safety and Quality, has developed the Safety Program for Improving Surgical Care and Recovery. The program comprises a national effort to incorporate best practice in perioperative care and improve patient safety, for over 750 hospitals and multiple procedures over the next 5 years, including orthopedic surgery. We have conducted a full evidence review of anesthetic interventions to derive anesthesiology-related components of an evidence-based ERAS pathway for TKA. A PubMed search was performed for each protocol component, focusing on the highest levels of evidence in the literature. Search findings are summarized in narrative format. Anesthesiology components of care were identified and evaluated across the pre-, intra-, and postoperative phases. A summary of the best available evidence, together with recommendations for inclusion in ERAS protocols for TKA, is provided. There is extensive evidence in the literature, and from society guidelines to support the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Safety Program for Improving Surgical Care and Recovery goals for TKA. Accepted for publication March 22, 2018. Funding: This project was funded under contract number HHSP233201500020I from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the US Department of Health and Human Services. Conflicts of Interest: See Disclosures at the end of the article. Supplemental digital content is available for this article. Direct URL citations appear in the printed text and are provided in the HTML and PDF versions of this article on the journal's website. The opinions expressed in this document are those of the authors and do not reflect the official position of Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality or the US Department of Health and Human Services. Reprints will not be available from the authors. Address correspondence to Christopher L. Wu, MD, Department of Anesthesiology, Hospital for Special Surgery/Weill Cornell Medical College, 535 E 70th St, New York, NY 10021. Address e-mail to wuch@hss.edu. © 2018 International Anesthesia Research Society

https://ift.tt/2HAq3aQ