• Daniel J Borsuk, Ahmed Al-Khamis, Andrew J Geiser, Dimin Zhou, Christina Warner, Kunal Kochar, and Slawomir J Marecik.
• Division of Colon and Rectal Surgery, Advocate Lutheran General Hospital, 1550 N. Northwest Highway, Suite 107, Park Ridge, 60068, IL, USA. dborsuk@umich.edu.
• Surg Endosc. 2019 Nov 1; 33 (11): 3816-3827.

BackgroundEnhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) programs aim to standardize perioperative care to reduce morbidity and cost. Our study examined an Active Post-Discharge Surveillance (APDS) program in reducing avoidable readmissions and emergency department (ED) visits in postoperative colorectal ERAS patients.MethodsColectomy (right, subtotal and total) and low anterior resection cases performed at a tertiary care hospital between 2015 and 2018 were reviewed. ED visits, 30-day readmissions, and patients' APDS participation were assessed. Our APDS followed a modern text messaging paradigm offered to all patients free-of-charge.ResultsOf 236 patients that underwent colectomy, 123 utilized APDS and 113 did not. Overall, both non-surveillance (NS) and active surveillance (AS) groups had similar preoperative characteristics. Length of hospital stay at index surgery was longer in the NS compared to AS group, 4.7 ± 2.6 vs. 2.6 ± 2.8 days, respectively (p < 0.001). In the NS group, 16 patients visited the ED, of which 14 (14/16, 87.5%) were ultimately readmitted. One patient was directly readmitted from the surgeon's office, resulting in a total of 15 (15/113, 13.3%) total patients readmitted by postoperative day (POD) 30. In the AS group, 9 patients visited the ED, of which 7 (7/9, 77.8%) were ultimately readmitted. One patient was directly readmitted, resulting in a total of 8 (8/123, 6.5%) total patients readmitted by POD 30. AS patients had significantly lower odds of visiting the ED when compared to NS patients (OR: 0.356; 95% CI: 0.138-0.919; p = 0.0328). Similarly, AS patients had significantly lower odds of readmission when compared to NS patients (OR: 0.343; 95% CI: 0.132-0.892; p = 0.0283).ConclusionsAPDS allows many postoperative issues to be resolved in outpatient settings without ER visits or readmission. This indicates APDS is a valuable ERAS adjunct by establishing a cost-effective and convenient communication line between patients and their surgical team.

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