Evaluation of the Fetal Therapy Evidence in Lower Urinary Tract Obstruction: Would an ERAS Guideline Improve Outcomes?

Background Pregnancies that are prenatally identified to have fetal anomalies are complex and require expert multidisciplinary care. As many conditions can impact the fetus prenatally and require intervention, an enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) for lower urinary tract obstruction (LUTO) is being evaluated to determine the level of evidenced-based data available. Problem The percutaneous ultrasound-guided fetal surgery procedure for bladder neck obstruction is the focus for elements of preoperative counseling, intraoperative procedure/risk complications, and postoperative management. Methods A quality improvement review Squire 2.0 (2000-2020) was undertaken for the percutaneous LUTO fetal surgery shunting (lower urinary tract obstruction), process and procedure which require 2 process pathways, one to evaluate the fetal candidate and a second to treat. This structured review is focused on identifying the process elements to allow the determination of the number of evidenced-based elements that would allow for audit and measurement of the clinical element variance for comparative feedback to the individual surgical provider or surgery center. Interventions Titles and abstracts were screened to identify potentially relevant articles with priority given to meta-analyses, systematic reviews, randomized controlled studies, nonrandomized controlled studies, reviews, and case series. Results A series of potential clinical elements for the diagnostic fetal evaluation and for the 3 protocol areas of surgical care for the procedures (pre-, intra-, and postoperative care) are identified using an ERAS-like process. Conclusions The identified clinical elements have the potential for ERAS-LUTO fetal therapy guideline. Multidisciplinary collaboration (surgeon, anesthesia, nursing, imaging, and laboratory) is required for ERAS quality improvement in the pre-, intra-, and postoperative processes. Process elements in each of the operative areas can be audited, evaluated, compared, and modified/improved.