Enhanced Recovery After Surgery

Peri-operative pain management has changed tremendously over recent years. Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) protocols have been a game-changer for recovery after all methods of breast reconstruction

Patient comfort is one of our top priorities at PRMA Plastic Surgery!

Thanks to PRMA’s new Enhanced Recovery after Surgery (ERAS) protocol, our patients experience less pain and are able to leave the hospital sooner after breast reconstruction surgery.

Beginning the morning before breast reconstruction surgery, PRMA’s Enhanced Recovery Protocol ensures a strong foundation of pain control is already in place by the time surgery begins.

During surgery, we inject long-acting local anesthetic (known as “blocks”) into each surgical site.  By doing this, pain and discomfort are very well controlled before the patient even wakes up from surgery. For our DIEP flap breast reconstruction patients, administering the “blocks” in the abdominal area has dramatically improved and minimized abdominal discomfort.

Celebrex and extra-strength Tylenol are typically all our patients need to control their post-operative discomfort. We have found since implementing our ERAS protocol, narcotic drugs are rarely necessary.

PRMA’s ERAS protocol also includes a specially-formulated carbohydrate drink that patients consume before surgery. This drink enables the body to process anesthesia quicker, decreases anesthesia related nausea, and optimizes healing. Patients are now able to begin eating solid food much earlier after surgery. The risk of constipation is also far less, particularly since pain control is no longer dependent on narcotics.

Combined, these new steps improve patient recovery and decreases time spent in the hospital!  In fact, thanks to our Enhanced Recovery Protocol, DIEP flap patients now usually only stay three nights after surgery.