Implementation of Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) Pathways in Gynecologic Oncology. A NOGGO-AGO* survey of 144 Gynecological Departments in Germany.

AIM

To gather standardized information of current perioperative management of gynecological oncology patients and to evaluate up to what extent the Enhanced Recovery after Surgery (ERAS) elements are established in the clinical routine of gynecologic oncology units in Germany.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We performed a multi-centric nationwide survey among 654 primary, secondary and maximal health care gynecological departments in Germany. A multiple-choice questionnaire based on the principles of ERAS was developed to gather information about perioperative management of two fictional cases in gynecological oncology.

RESULTS

One hundred four units (22%) have been taken the survey. Only 49.5% of surveyed hospitals claimed to be adherent to more than 70% of ERAS elements in managing perioperative period of primary cytoreductive surgery in ovarian cancer patients. 21% of these hospitals implemented more than 80% and only 8.4% implemented more than 90%. The results in border-line tumors operations did not differ from those of ovarian cancer operations.

CONCLUSION

The implementation of ERAS elements in gynecologic oncology in Germany is still not satisfying as only half of the departments will now be able to apply 70% of these principles. Therefore, we plan the second step of this survey in order to be able to build a consistent structured reporting platform between gynecological oncology units in Germany to facilitate the wide implementation and standardization of ERAS protocol.