Perioperative enhanced recovery programmes for gynaecological cancer patients.
BACKGROUND
Gynaecological malignancies contribute to 10 to 15% of cancers in women internationally. In recent years, a trend towards new perioperative care strategies has been documented as "Fast Track (FT) surgery", or "Enhanced Recovery Programmes" to replace some traditional approaches in surgical care. The FT multimodal programmes may enhance the postoperative recovery by means of reducing surgical stress. This systematic review aims to fully assess the beneficial and harmful effects of FT programmes in gynaecological cancer care.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the beneficial and harmful effects of FT programmes in gynaecological cancer care.


METHODS
We searched the following databases, The Cochrane Gynaecological Cancer Collaborative Review Group's Trial Register, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) Issue 4, 2009, MEDLINE and EMBASE to November 2009. In addition, all reference lists of included trials were searched and experts in the gynaecological oncology community were contacted in an attempt to locate trials.


METHODS
All randomised controlled trials (RCTs) comparing any type of FT programmes for surgery in gynaecological cancer to conventional recovery strategies were included.


METHODS
Two review authors independently screened studies for inclusion. Since no RCTs were identified, data collection and analysis could not be performed.


RESULTS
No studies were found that met the inclusion criteria.


CONCLUSIONS
We currently have no evidence from high quality studies to support or refute the use of perioperative enhanced recovery programmes for gynaecological cancer patients. Further well-designed RCTs with standard FT programmes are needed.
Lv
Donghao
D
Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, No.21, Third Part of Ren Min Nan Road, Chengdu, Sichuan, China, 610041.
Wang
Xuan
X
Shi
Gang
G
D017558:Elective Surgical Procedures; D005260:Female; D005833:Genital Neoplasms, Female / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D019990:Perioperative Care / Q000379:methods*; D015397:Program Evaluation