Background: Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) is the object of numerous publications in various surgical fields. Still, its value in spine surgery is not as recognized as it is in other surgical domains. Our aim was to report neurosurgeons' opinions about ERAS in spine surgery.
Methods: From December 2019 to January 2020, members of the European Association of Neurosurgical Societies were asked to complete an online questionnaire regarding ERAS in spine surgery.
Results: N = 234 participants responded to the survey (60% spine neurosurgeons; 22.6% working in private practice). Thirty-two percent reported to have more than 20 years of experience, followed by surgeons having between 5 and 10 (27.4%), 10-15 (17.9%), 15-20 (12%), and 0-5 years (10.7%). Gender distribution (12% vs 27% female gender, p = 0.04), private practice activity (28% vs 14%, p = 0.01), familiarity with the ERAS concept (57.4% vs 27%, p < 0.0001), and its implementation in the daily clinical practice (47.5% vs 18.3%, p < 0.0001) were statistically different between spine and general neurosurgeons. 54.7% of the surgeons were unfamiliar with ERAS in spine surgery. 63.7% considered ERAS as a progress; 36% declared to implement ERAS in their daily clinical practice. 1.7% reported ERAS as a decrease in the quality of management. 6.8% considered ERAS as not having an impact on patient care; 27.8% had no opinion. There were no differences in opinion on ERAS and its implementation between surgeons working in private and public hospitals. 69.5% of the spine surgeons considered ERAS having a positive impact on patient management, versus 55% of non-spine surgeons (p = 0.02).
Conclusions: Efforts are necessary to promote minimal invasive pre-, intra-, and postoperative workflow to improve patient management and reduce complications or side effects particularly adapted to spinal surgery. Specificities of spine patients, in terms of chronic pain, pre- and postoperative pain management, and psychological issues have to be considered.
Keywords: ERAS; Enhanced Recovery After Surgery; Neurosurgery; Spine surgery.