ERAS Pathway Improves Analgesia, Opioid Use and PONV Following Total Mastectomy

 

New Orleans—With surgery still the primary treatment for breast cancer, strategies to minimize acute postoperative pain have the potential for signific
ant benefit, perhaps even preventing development of chronic pain. A research team at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) has moved much closer to this lofty goal. They developed an enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) pathway that significantly decreased opioid consumption, acute postoperative pain, and postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) in women undergoing total mastectomy.

 “There’s a movement in anesthesia to improve patient care by implementing ERAS pathways,” said Monica Harbell, MD, assistant clinical professor of anesthesia and perioperative care at UCSF’s School of Medicine. “Nevertheless, there haven't been many enhanced recovery pathways in breast surgery. So we wanted to apply the principles of enhanced recovery in an effort to get our patients mobilized earlier, more active and involved in their care, and hopefully achieve better outcomes and greater patient satisfaction.”

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