A randomised controlled trial to assess faster recovery of mothers by implementation of ERAS guidelines for scheduled caesarean section in comparison with the conventional care in a tertiary care centre in South India

Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) is a standardised, perioperative care program that now is used within multiple surgical disciplines that include colorectal, urologic, gynecologic, and hepatobiliary surgery. Hospital length of stay (LOS) for CD has large variations at the provider and facility level. Chronic postsurgical pain affects up to 11% of women 1 year later with nearly 10% having severe pain. ERAS aims to standardise the perioperative care of the peripartum patient and helps improve maternal and neonatal outcomes. It is a focussed pathway starting during the antenatal visits. Patients for scheduled Caesarean delivery must be educated and informed about the procedure and consent should be taken. We are planning on a double blinded study in a tertiary care centre in the implementation of Enhanced recovery after surgery guidelines for scheduled caesarean section in reducing the hospital stay in comparison with conventional care. Information sheet is given to the mothers planned for elective LSCS in the OPD. At the time of admission in the ward, the eligible mothers are chosen in respect to inclusion and exclusion criteria. After informed consent of the eligible mothers, mothers are recruited to either ERAS group or the conventional care group through block randomization. Protocol as described in methods section is followed in both the groups respectively. Details of mothers in both the groups are taken in the proforma. Final data is analysed to check primary and secondary outcome.

Successful ERAS pathway implementation has the potential to improve patient care and health care delivery system