title: Functional recovery is considered the most important target: a survey of dedicated professionals.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aim of this study was to survey the relative importance of postoperative recovery targets and perioperative care items, as perceived by a large group of international dedicated professionals.
  
  
  METHODS
  A questionnaire with eight postoperative recovery targets and 13 perioperative care items was mailed to participants of the first international Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) congress and to authors of papers with a clear relevance to ERAS in abdominal surgery. The responders were divided into categories according to profession and region.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The recovery targets 'To be completely free of nausea', 'To be independently mobile' and 'To be able to eat and drink as soon as possible' received the highest score irrespective of the responder's profession or region of origin. Equally, the care items 'Optimizing fluid balance', 'Preoperative counselling' and 'Promoting early and scheduled mobilisation' received the highest score across all groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Functional recovery, as in tolerance of food without nausea and regained mobility, was considered the most important target of recovery. There was a consistent uniformity in the way international dedicated professionals scored the relative importance of recovery targets and care items. The relative rating of the perioperative care items was not dependent on the strength of evidence supporting the items.
authors.affiliation: Department of GI and HPB Surgery, University Hospital Northern Norway, Breivika, Tromsø, Norway ; Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Tromsø, Tromsø, Norway.
authors.forename: Eirik K
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Aahlin
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University Hospital Maastricht and NUTRIM School for Nutrition, Toxicology and Metabolism,, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Maarten
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: von Meyenfeldt
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University Hospital Maastricht and NUTRIM School for Nutrition, Toxicology and Metabolism,, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Cornelius Hc
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Dejong
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Örebro University Hospital, Örebro, Sweden ; Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Olle
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ljungqvist
authors.affiliation: Clinical Surgery, University of Edinburgh, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
authors.forename: Kenneth C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Fearon
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Nottingham Digestive Diseases Centre National Institute for Health Research, Biomedical Research Unit, Nottingham University Hospitals, Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham, UK.
authors.forename: Dileep N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Lobo
authors.affiliation: Department of Visceral Surgery, University Hospital of Lausanne (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Demartines
authors.affiliation: Department of GI and HPB Surgery, University Hospital Northern Norway, Breivika, Tromsø, Norway ; Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Tromsø, Tromsø, Norway.
authors.forename: Arthur
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Revhaug
authors.affiliation: Clinical Surgery, University of Edinburgh, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
authors.forename: Stephen J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Wigmore
authors.affiliation: Department of GI and HPB Surgery, University Hospital Northern Norway, Breivika, Tromsø, Norway ; Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Tromsø, Tromsø, Norway.
authors.forename: Kristoffer
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lassen
keywords: ERAS; Fast track; Perioperative care; Recovery
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