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 .
Perioperative Erythropoietin Administration in Patients With Gastrointestinal Tract Cancer: Prospective Randomized Double-Blind Study
Objective To investigate the effect of recombinant human erythropoietin ( r-HuEPO ) administration on perioperative hemoglobin concentrations and on the number of blood transfusions in patients undergoing surgery for gastrointestinal tract malignancies . Summary Background Data Erythropoietin has been shown to improve the yield of autologously predonated blood and to reduce the subsequent requirements for homologous blood transfusions in cancer patients . Methods In this double-blind placebo-controlled study , 31 cancer patients received subcutaneous r-HuEPO in a dose of 300 IU/kg body weight plus 100 mg iron intravenously ( study group ) and 32 patients received placebo medication and iron  ( control group ) . All patients received the medications daily for at least 7 days before and 7 days after the operation . Results Patients who received erythropoietin received significantly fewer transfusions intraoperatively and postoperatively . Postoperatively , the study group had significantly higher hematocrit , hemoglobin , and reticulocyte count values compared to the control group . The use of erythropoietin was also associated with a reduced number of postoperative complications and improved 1-year survival . Conclusions Patients with gastrointestinal tract cancer and mild anemia benefit from perioperative erythropoietin administration in terms of stimulated erythropoiesis , reduction in the number of blood transfusions , and a favorable outcome
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 .