Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS)

When you picture recovering from surgery, you may imagine days in bed, grogginess, and a slow, uncomfortable return to normal. We want to change that picture. Enhanced Recovery After Surgery — ERAS — is a carefully coordinated care pathway built around one goal: helping your body heal faster and with less strain, so you feel more like yourself sooner.

ERAS isn't a single treatment or device. It's a set of evidence-based practices, refined over decades of research, that guide every stage of your journey — before, during, and after your operation. Whether you're preparing for a sleeve gastrectomy or a gastric bypass, this pathway works quietly in the background so your recovery is calmer, safer, and more predictable. You focus on healing; we handle the choreography.

Traditional surgical recovery often meant long fasting, heavy narcotic pain medication, and staying in bed until you "felt ready." ERAS takes a different, more human approach — one that keeps your body nourished, comfortable, and active throughout.

• Smarter nutrition and hydration. Instead of long overnight fasting, you'll often sip clear carbohydrate drinks up to a few hours before surgery, so you arrive fueled rather than depleted.
• Multimodal pain control. We combine several gentle, complementary medications to manage discomfort — which means far less reliance on narcotics, less nausea, and a clearer head afterward.
• Early movement. Getting you up and walking within hours of surgery is one of the most powerful tools we have. It protects your lungs, prevents blood clots, and helps your digestive system wake up.
• Minimally invasive technique. ERAS pairs naturally with laparoscopic and robotic-assisted surgery, where tiny incisions mean less trauma and a faster return to your feet.

Every element reinforces the others, and every member of our multidisciplinary team plays a part.

Recovery truly begins before you ever reach the operating room. The stronger and more informed you feel going in, the smoother your healing tends to be — and preparation is something we do together.

• Know what to expect. We'll walk you through each step so there are no surprises. Understanding your day lowers anxiety, and calmer patients recover more comfortably.
• Nourish your body. Our dietitian and nutrition counseling helps you enter surgery well-nourished and hydrated, which supports faster healing.
• Complete your pre-op evaluation. Steps like a comprehensive pre-op EGD help us plan your operation precisely and safely.
• Move and breathe. Simple walking and breathing exercises in the days beforehand build reserves your body will draw on during recovery.

You are never expected to do this alone — we prepare you at every turn.

Here's what recovery on the ERAS pathway realistically looks like. Everyone heals at their own pace, and that's completely okay — but this timeline reflects what most of our patients experience.

• The day of surgery. You'll wake more alert and comfortable than you might expect. Within hours, we'll help you sit up, take sips of fluids, and take your first short walk.
• The first day or two. Many patients feel well enough to go home the day after a sleeve or bypass. You'll be walking regularly, staying hydrated, and managing any discomfort with gentle medication.
• The first weeks. You'll gradually progress through your eating stages with your dietitian's guidance, slowly rebuild your energy, and return to light daily activities.
• Ongoing. We stay close through follow-up visits, celebrating your progress and adjusting your plan as your body changes.

If a bump in the road appears, we address it early and honestly — restoring your progress and keeping you moving forward.

Let's lead with what matters most to you: patients on an ERAS pathway tend to feel better sooner, need less narcotic pain medication, and go home faster — often returning to work, family, and the activities they love with less disruption than they feared. Fewer complications, shorter hospital stays, and a more comfortable experience are the reasons ERAS has become the standard of care at leading bariatric programs worldwide.

ERAS also makes an already-safe operation even safer. Modern bariatric surgery is remarkably well-established — as safe as, or safer than, gallbladder surgery, with outcomes backed by decades of research. By keeping you moving, nourished, and comfortable, ERAS reduces the risks that used to make recovery harder. And this powerful, proven approach isn't a shortcut — it's how we protect the long-term health you're working toward. Sustained weight loss can add 8 to 14 quality years to your life, and a strong, complication-free recovery is the first step toward that future.