Enhanced recovery programmes for patients undergoing radical cystectomy

Enhanced recovery programmes (ERPs) are multimodal and have preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative componentsThe surgery itself is only one of many important steps; others include preoperative patient education, postoperative multimodal analgesia and early commencement of enteral nutritionReappraisal of existing ERPs, assessment of patient experience and identification of areas of improvement are key to ensuring a consistently high level of careDischarge criteria are the tolerance of a normal diet, adequate pain control with oral analgesia, competence with either stoma care (conduit) or catheter care (neobladder) and the patient feeling adequately supportedFollow-up support includes follow-up telephone calls, a scheduled date for clinical review and an emergency contact