Impact of clinical pathways in surgery

Background One strategy to reduce the consumption of resources associated to specific procedures is to utilize clinical pathways, in which surgical care is standardized and preset by determination of perioperative in-hospital processes. The aim of this prospective study was to establish the impact of clinical pathways on costs, complication rates, and nursing activities. Method Data was prospectively collected for 171 consecutive patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy ( n = 50), open herniorrhaphy ( n = 56), and laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass ( n = 65). Results Clinical pathways reduced the postoperative hospital stay by 28% from a mean of 6.1 to 4.4 days ( p