Purpose of review: Enhanced recovery pathways are a well-described perioperative healthcare program involving evidence-based interventions. Enhanced recovery is designed to standardize techniques such as drug selection and nerve blocks in order to speed recovery and reduce overall hospital costs.
Recent findings: A PubMed literature search was performed for articles that included the terms enhanced recovery and breast reconstruction surgery. The present investigation summarizes enhanced recovery literature related to breast surgery with a focus on breast reconstruction. Enhanced recovery considerations discussed in this review include patient education, preadmission optimization, perforator flap planning, anesthetic techniques, optimized fasting, venous thrombosis prophylaxis, early mobilization, and antimicrobial prophylaxis.
Keywords: Breast surgery; Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS); Fast track recovery; Postoperative care; Preoperative care; Surgery.