Over the last twenty years, the significant growth of Enhanced Recovery after Surgery (ERAS) pathways represents a paradigm shift in how surgical care is delivered.
For some time, Professor Robert Middleton and Tom Wainwright have influenced professional practice and promoted the introduction of ERAS by providing consultancy and training services to national bodies, private healthcare groups, and individual NHS hospitals. The team at ORI continue to pioneer the research in this area, with contributions to guidelines, textbooks, conference posters and implementation. This year, Professor Robert Middleton and Associate Professor Tom Wainwright co-authored the ERAS Society guidelines for hip and knee replacement surgery, which is currently one of the most-read articles in Acta Orthopaedica, with over 20,000 reads.
Professor Kehlet and Associate Professor Tom Wainwright
Tom Wainwright also recently collaborated with Professor Henrik Kehlet from Denmark, who first initiated ERAS, also known as “fast-track surgery” to colorectal procedures in the 1990s. Their publication, entitled: “Fast-track hip and knee arthroplasty – have we reached the goal?” discusses the remaining challenges with implementation of ERAS pathways to hip and knee replacement, in order to achieve the goal of pain and risk free surgery. The ORI team were also invited to contribute to the textbook, “ERAS – A Complete Guide to Optimizing Outcomes“, and published two chapters on early ambulation and physiotherapy after surgery, and ERAS in orthopaedics.
ORI has also extended its research on ERAS to other surgical procedures, collaborating with international and local surgeons, looking at ERAS in spinal procedures, total ankle replacement, shoulder surgery and hip fracture. Externally, Tom Wainwright holds a position as orthopaedic lead at the ERAS Society and director and treasurer at ERAS UK. These organisations aim to improve patient recovery after surgery by promoting knowledge, understanding and research regarding optimal outcomes.
