The Most Effective ERAS Drink: Ensuring the Preop Drink You Recommend Delivers the Right Results
An evidence-based program borrowed from Europe and the UK, Enhanced Recovery After Surgery Programs (or ERAS® Programs) are becoming increasingly popular in luminary hospitals across the United States. A major component of these programs is prepping patients for surgery with the right ERAS drink. Today, we’ll cover:
- Why ClearFast is the most compliant ERAS drink
- The benefits of ClearFast as an ERAS drink, including:
- It’s complex carbohydrate-rich and rich in maltodextrins
- It’s rich in healing properties (zinc & L-citrulline)
- Clear and colorless, ClearFast is free of simple sugars and colored dyes (unlike sports drinks)
- It is trusted by medical professionals across the US, who use ClearFast as a key part of their ERAS Programs.
- Why taste and ease-of-use are imperative for improved patient outcomes
Now, let’s dig in…
ERAS® Programs are comprised of 17 key elements for perioperative patient management—like pre-admission counseling and short-acting anaesthetic agents—which, when combined, work to ensure a better surgical outcomes, enhanced recovery after surgery, and increased patient satisfaction overall.
One of the most important of the 17 elements is preoperative carbohydrate loading using a compliant ERAS® drink. It’s not an exaggeration to say that, without that, the results of your ERAS program will be limited at best. Today, then, we’re breaking down everything you need to know about choosing the right ERAS drink for your patients—ultimately ensuring safer, more effective surgeries and happier patients across the board.
The Most Compliant ERAS Drink
The most important part of any ERAS program is compliance. If the preop recommendations you’re making aren’t ERAS-compliant (i.e. recommending a preop beverage that doesn’t provide patients the proper amount of nutrition and hydration in the proper form), the results of your program will be extremely limited, at best.
We know that proper preop nutrition and hydration is a key element of ERAS programs, replacing the outdated no food or drink after midnight rule. But, just as important to note is the fact that not just any beverage will work when it comes to proper preop carbohydrate loading. They key to this ERAS program element is preparing patients with complex carbohydrate-rich beverages that contain primarily maltodextrins, rather than simple sugars like the fructose found in sports drinks. Sports drinks, in other words, simply aren’t an option for enhanced recovery—after all, it doesn’t take a medical degree to know that you shouldn’t prepare patients for anesthesia with dyed, neon-colored, simple-sugar water. ClearFast, on the other hand, is the only domestically produced ERAS drink of this kind that is delicious, rich in maltodextrins & healing properties (zinc & L-citrulline), clear and colorless, free of simple sugars and colored dyes; it is trusted by medical professionals across the US, who regularly use ClearFast as a key part of their ERAS Programs.
The Importance of Taste & Ease of Use
Ease of use and flavor are extremely important when it comes to ERAS compliance—and, without proper compliance, your ERAS program won’t deliver the results you’re hoping for. A recommendation, after all, is only as good as far as it’s followed. What good does it do to recommend a preop drink if your patients don’t actually drink it, or worse, can’t follow the instructions properly and end up taking the drink incorrectly? One of the major problems with using other preop carbohydrate beverages on the market as part of your ERAS program is that they tend to be extremely foul tasting and complicated to use. ClearFast is distinct as an ERAS drink in that it receives rave reviews, time and time again, from patients who find it easy to use and pleasing to drink. One of our favorites comes from a patient who wrote of ClearFast’s taste, “Thank you so much for introducing me to ClearFast PreOp. Having to go through my first colonoscopy, my worst fear was not only having to drink the solution, but doing so on an empty stomach with the possibility of being nauseous! Sipping on ClearFast PreOp after each glass made it bearable, as it tastes good! And, it was comforting to know that it was full of nutrients.”
It’s important to note that, if your solution to foul-tasting preop drinks is to send patients to the store to search for an appropriate additive, you’re asking for trouble. Patients can easily get confused and can end up choosing the wrong item or misunderstanding your instruction all together. You don’t want a patient showing up for surgery, turning to you and saying, “Doc, I mixed that drink you recommended up in a protein shake.. that’s fine right?”
Overall, getting the most out of your hospital’s ERAS program all comes down to proper compliance. A key part of this is ensuring the ERAS drink you recommend checks all of the necessary boxes for proper preoperative carbohydrate loading. ClearFast, then, is the only domestically-produced preop drink on the market that contains 50 full grams of complex carbs (ERAS programs recommend 45+), is rich in maltodextrins, is clear and colorless, is free of simple sugars and colored dyes…and is tasty and easy for patients to use.
Ready to improve outcomes for your patients and your hospital with the right ERAS drink? Recommending ClearFast for preoperative carbohydrate loading is the most compliant choice you can make when it comes to preop nutrition and hydration as part of an ERAS program. Order your ClearFast Preop Drink here, or reach out to the ClearFast team at support@drinkcf.com if you have any questions at all. We’re always here and happy to help!