Clinical pathway for enhanced recovery after surgery for gastric cancer: A prospective single‐center phase II clinical trial for safety and efficacy

Background We aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a clinical pathway (CP) for enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) in gastric cancer patients, including early oral feeding and discharge on postoperative day 4. Methods We performed a prospective, single‐center, phase II clinical trial. Based on proposed indications for an ERAS CP in our retrospective study, we enrolled 133 patients younger than 65 years who were undergoing minimally invasive subtotal gastrectomy. The primary endpoint was the ERAS CP completion rate. Secondary endpoints included complication, mortality, hospital stay, and readmission. Results Among 133 patients, six patients were dropped out from this study. The ERAS CP completion rate (77.2%, 98 of 127) was comparable to the historical control group that completed a conventional CP (85.4%, P = .085). The postoperative complication incidence (13.4%, 15 of 127) was also similar to that of the conventional CP group (9.5%, P = .174). We identified reduced hospital stays (4.7 ± 1.3 vs 7.2±2.3 days; P