Overall , there is little direct evidence for components of ERAS , with much derived from nonesophageal thoracoabdominal surgery .
ERAS in principle seems logical and safe for esophagectomy .
OBJECTIVE This article aims to provide the first systematic review of enhanced recovery after surgery ( ERAS ) programs for  esophagectomy  and generate guidelines .
BACKGROUND ERAS programs use multimodal approaches to reduce complications and accelerate recovery .
Although ERAS is well established in colorectal surgery , experience after esophagectomy has been minimal .
However , esophagectomy remains an extremely high-risk operation , commonly performed in patients with significant comorbidities .
Consequently , ERAS may have a significant role to play in improving outcomes .
No guidelines or review s have been published in esophagectomy .
Prospective randomised clinical trial of providing patients with audiotape recordings of their oesophagogastric cancer consultations.
OBJECTIVE To evaluate audiotape-recorded consultations at which a new diagnosis of oesophageal or gastric cancer was given to patients with reference to information retention , psychological outcome and socio-economic deprivation . METHODS Fifty-eight patients were r and omised to receive audiotaped consultations or not .  Thirty-one patients received tapes ( 12 oesophageal and 19 gastric cancers ) and were compared with 27 control patients ( 12 oesophageal and 15 gastric cancers ) . All patients were re-interviewed and completed a hospital anxiety and depression ( HAD ) question naire . Socio-economic deprivation scores were calculated using National Indices of Multiple Deprivation . RESULTS Patients r and omised to receive tapes were more likely to retain information ( 31 patients ) than control patients ( 18 patients , p=0.001 ) . Median ( range ) HAD scores were similar in both groups of patients [ HAD A tape 6 ( 0 - 21 ) vs. no tape 5 ( 2 - 14 ) , HAD D tape 3 ( 0 - 23 ) vs. 4 ( 0 - 10 ) , respectively ] . Deprivation correlated significantly with higher HAD A scores in control patients ( p=0.039 ) but was not associated with information retention ( p=0.667 ) . CONCLUSION Taped consultations were associated with significantly better information retention without adverse psychological outcomes . Providing an audiotape may reduce the effect of socio-economic deprivation on patient anxiety . PRACTICE IMPLICATION S Audiotaping , or its equivalent , would be a valuable tool in the multidisciplinary approach to cancers of the upper gastrointestinal tract
Overall , there is little direct evidence for components of ERAS , with much derived from nonesophageal thoracoabdominal surgery .
ERAS in principle seems logical and safe for esophagectomy .
OBJECTIVE This article aims to provide the first systematic review of enhanced recovery after surgery ( ERAS ) programs for  esophagectomy  and generate guidelines .
BACKGROUND ERAS programs use multimodal approaches to reduce complications and accelerate recovery .
Although ERAS is well established in colorectal surgery , experience after esophagectomy has been minimal .
However , esophagectomy remains an extremely high-risk operation , commonly performed in patients with significant comorbidities .
Consequently , ERAS may have a significant role to play in improving outcomes .
No guidelines or review s have been published in esophagectomy .