To evaluate the safety and feasibility of Enhanced Recovery After Surgery(ERAS) in inguinal hernia repair in elderly patients with daytime mode.

The cases of 200 elderly patients (≥65 years old) with inguinal hernia treated in our hospital from April 2015 to April 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. 84 patients who were admitted to the general ward from April 2015 to March 2016 were defined as the traditional group and 116 patients who were admitted to the day ward from April 2016 to April 2018 were defined as the ERAS group. Analysis was performed using SPSS 19.0 software. Intraoperative and postoperative indexes and VAS scores were expressed as (±s), and compared with independent t test; postoperative complication rate was compared with χ² test, P<0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Compared with the traditional group, the average hospitalization time, average hospitalization cost, first ventilation time, and time of getting out of bed in the ERAS group were significantly lower than those in the traditional group (P<0.05). The VAS scores were significantly lower at 6h, 12h, and 24h after operation (P<0.05). In the ERAS group, the patients’ satisfaction was significantly improved (P<0.05); the incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) was significantly lower than that of the traditional group (P<0.05) . There were no significant differences in urine retention, wound infection, local hematoma, scrotal edema, chronic pain, and incidence of postoperative recurrence between the two groups.

The application of Enhanced Recovery After Surgery concept for inguinal hernia repair in elderly patients with daytime mode can not only effectively promote postoperative rehabilitation, but also shorten hospital stay and reduce hospitalization costs. It provides new possibilities for the development of community health and general medicine, and is worthy of clinical application and promotion.