Case controlled study of the hospital stay and return to full activity following laparoscopic and open colorectal surgery before and after the introduction of an enhanced recovery programme

Abstract

Following laparoscopic colorectal resection, patients can be expected to have a hospital stay of under a week and return to their usual activities as early as a week after discharge from hospital and < 2 weeks from surgery in comparison to patients undergoing open surgery who take 8 weeks or more to recover.