Merriam-Webster defines “recovery” as “the act, process or an instance of recovering” and defines “recovering” as “being in the process of overcoming a disorder or shortcoming.” In 1990, Engelman et al.1 described accelerated recovery after cardiac surgery (i.e., “fast-track recovery of the coronary bypass patient”) and showed a decrease in hospital length of stay (LOS) with the implementation of peri-operative multimodal care. Around the same time, Prof. Henrik Kehlet, a colorectal surgeon from Denmark, suggested that a multimodal, multidisciplinary approach with modifications in preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative factors working synergistically to modulate the surgical stress response would translate into an enhanced recovery.2 Since then, implementation of enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) programs has been reported as “successful” in several surgical models.3
Of note, the definition of a successful postoperative recovery has been primarily based on outcomes such as postoperative complication rate, length of stay, readmission rate and...
