Enhanced Recovery After Surgery Program (ERAS)
Saint Peter’s University Hospital’s Enhanced Recovery After Surgery Program (ERAS) helps patients recover faster from surgery and go home sooner. Saint Peter’s was the first hospital in the United States to introduce a complete obstetrics ERAS program for maternity patients undergoing repeat C-section and the success of the program resulted in expanding the program to patients undergoing joint replacement surgery and colorectal surgery.
Created by doctors and nurses at Saint Peter’s, helps patients to track milestones in their care and provides health tips. ERAS makes it possible for providers also to monitor patients remotely in real-time, allowing patients to stay connected with their care team, particularly after leaving the hospital.
An important feature of the enhanced recovery program is its focus on reducing the use of narcotics for pain management following surgery. This practice is aligned with the goals of the Saint Peter’s Opioid Task Force which is focused on reducing inpatient opioid use and providing resources for patients and families in need of recovery from addiction.
The new pain management response calls for patients to receive two non-opioid pain medications intravenously in alternating doses around the clock.
First introduced in hospitals in Europe in the 1990s, ERAS is a program designed to provide patients with a more comfortable experience and a quicker recovery by introducing and modifying what a patient does before and after surgery.