Enhanced Recovery After Surgery for Emergency Caesarean Deliveries

Enhanced Recovery After Surgery Versus Standard Recovery for Emergency Caesarean Deliveries at Mbarara Hospital, Uganda: A Randomized Control Trial

Caesarean section (CS) constitutes a large proportion of the total surgical volume in low-income countries. This rate comes with challenges including surgical complications, shortage of beds, and consequently long waiting time for operations and high costs. These have led to the adoption of ERAS in developed countries in a bid to save costs by reducing hospital length of stay without compromising the health of the mother and her baby.

CS is the most common major surgery at Mbarara Hospital (56.2%). This rate comes with challenges including surgical complications, shortage of beds, and consequently long waiting time for operations. Enhanced recovery programs are composed of preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative strategies combined to form a multi-modal pathway. ERAS requires a multidisciplinary team of anesthetists, surgeons and nurses for successful implementation and realization of its advantages. ERAS has been seen to reduce duration of hospital stay, complications and costs. Although many of the elements of enhanced recovery after surgery are similar, it has not been tested in emergency CS and there is limited data about its applicability in low income settings like Uganda where 95% of CS are emergencies. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of ERAS protocols following emergency caesarean delivery in a low resource setting.

Inclusion Criteria:

• We included women who were ASA 1 and 2 mothers who were delivering by emergency caesarean section using spinal anesthetic technique.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Exclusion criteria included refusal to consent, pregnancy complicated by preeclampsia, antepartum hemorrhage, malaria, gestational diabetes mellitus, physical disability that would prevent postoperative mobilization and mental illness precluding comprehension of protocols.