Enhanced recovery after cesarean (ERAC) versus conventional care: An expanded systematic review and meta-analysis of 18,368 subjects

Enhanced recovery after cesarean (ERAC) is an interdisciplinary approach to improve patient outcomes following cesarean section. ERAC’s execution must be constantly evaluated. Thus, we aimed to analyze parameters associated with ERAC adoption for clinical care in this expanded systematic review. A systematic literature search using Epistemonikos, Google Scholar, PubMed, and Scopus was done until February 2023. The appropriate observational and experimental research comparing the effects of ERAC protocols with conventional care on postoperative adverse events, operation-related characteristics, time to first (oral intake, mobilization, bowel movement, and urinary catheter removal), and opioid use. Meta-analyses were conducted using the RevMan 5.4.1. and Comprehensive Meta-Analysis version 3.3 software. In total, 23 studies were included in this systematic review. ERAC implementation was found to be associated with improvement in terms of shorter postoperative hospital stays and faster time to first liquid intake, first solid diet, urinary catheter removal, and mobilization. Furthermore, the rate of opioid-free treatment, total in-hospital morphine milligram equivalent (MME), daily in-hospital MME, and total prescribed opioid pills at discharge (all parameters, P < 0.01) were significantly better in the ERAC group than in the conventional care group. However, no significant difference was observed regarding postoperative adverse events, blood loss, operation duration, and total prescribed MME at discharge parameters between the two observed groups. ERAC implementation is associated with better healthcare delivery, as determined by shorter time to first, lower opioid consumption, and shorter postoperative length of stay compared with conventional care. However, it is not associated with a lower dosage of opioid prescription at discharge. Key Message: ERAC has demonstrated immense advantages and appears to be the future of cesarean delivery methods worldwide. However, based on our analysis, it is not associated with a lower dosage of opioid prescription at discharge.