'Fast-track' postoperative management protocols for colorectal surgery

The traditional postoperative hospital stay after major gastrointestinal surgery has been lengthy. Advances in healthcare, increased understanding of postoperative physiology, financial pressure of healthcare payers, the impact of laparoscopic colectomy, and the increasing scarcity of ancillary healthcare personnel also have created a need to maximize the use of available hospital beds. These factors and the implementation of appropriately designed accelerated and standardized postoperative care pathways have demonstrated that open and laparoscopic colorectal surgery patients are indeed capable of shorter periods of ileus, an earlier tolerance of a general diet, and that early discharge may be accomplished safely for the patient, even after intestinal anastomosis.