Publication Name	World Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery
Manuscript ID	125939
DOI	10.4240/wjgs.125939
Country	China

Category	Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Manuscript Type	Review
Article Title	Enhanced recovery after surgery in colorectal surgery: Do average benefits mask heterogeneous effects in patients underrepresented in trials?
Manuscript Source	Invited Manuscript
All Author List	Ying-Bin Ding, Hang Yu and Xue-Lei Zhan
Funding Agency and Grant Number
Corresponding Author	Xue-Lei Zhan, Chief Physician, PhD, Department of General Surgery, The First Hospital of Harbin, No. 151 Diduan Street, Daoli District, Harbin 150000, Heilongjiang Province, China. zhanxuelei@126.com
Key Words	Colorectal surgery; Enhanced recovery after surgery; Protocol compliance; Patient selection; High-risk patients; Clinical reasoning; Audit; Healthcare disparities; Observer variation; Quality improvement
Core Tip	Enhanced recovery after surgery audits capture whether a protocol element was actually carried out, not why it was omitted. The reasons for omitting a step are not all the same: Some deviations reflect clinical caution, others simple oversight. That distinction matters most when the patient in question does not resemble the trial populations on which the protocol was originally based. Audit systems that record the rationale behind non-adherence, not merely the fact of it, have the potential to improve perioperative care, though this hypothesis requires prospective validation.
Citation	Ding YB, Yu H, Zhan XL. Enhanced recovery after surgery in colorectal surgery: Do average benefits mask heterogeneous effects in patients underrepresented in trials? World J Gastrointest Surg 2026; In press DOI: https://doi.org/10.4240/wjgs.125939
PDF	125939-in-press.pdf

Received	2026-07-21 11:21
Peer-Review Started	2026-07-21 11:21
First Decision by Editorial Office Director
Return for Revision	2026-08-05 08:42
Revised	2026-08-10 07:51
Publication Fee Transferred
Second Decision by Editor	2026-09-18 02:48
Second Decision by Editor-in-Chief
Final Decision by Editorial Office Director	2026-09-18 10:39
Articles in Press	2026-09-18 10:39
Edit the Manuscript by Language Editor
Typeset the Manuscript

ISSN	1948-9366 (online)
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