Implementation of enhanced recovery in cardiac surgery: An experimental study with the control group

Introduction The Enhanced Recovery After Cardiac Surgery protocol is the most recent addition to cardiac treatment. In this paper, we aimed to test the safety and viability of this protocol in our hospital to improve our standard of care. Methods This study was conducted as an experimental study with a historical control at the Maritime Heart Center, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. In order to quantify the success of this protocol, we measured the postoperative Length of Hospital Stay and three intensive care unit variables: time to extubation, time to ambulation, and opioid consumption. In the study, 100 patients were in the Enhanced Recovery After Cardiac Surgery group, and 103 patients were used as historic controls-selected by strenuous chart review and selection criteria. Results The primary outcome (Length of Hospital Stay) was reduced from a mean of 8.88 ± 3.50 days in the control group to a mean of 5.13 ± 1.34 days in the Enhanced Recovery After Cardiac Surgery group ( p Conclusion Enhanced Recovery After Cardiac Surgery protocols were seamlessly integrated into selected cardiac surgical patients, contingent on a high level of interprofessional communication and collaboration.