Preoperative carbohydrate treatment for enhancing recovery after elective surgery.

Preoperative carbohydrate treatments have been widely adopted as part of enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) or fast-track surgery protocols. Although fast-track surgery protocols have been widely investigated and have been shown to be associated with improved postoperative outcomes, some individual constituents of these protocols, including preoperative carbohydrate treatment, have not been subject to such robust analysis.