Statistical methods
In advance, a power calculation was performed (based on the retrospective results of the first 100 ERAS patients of the department regarding the designated primary outcome variable “timed-up-and-go test”, Continuous data are presented as mean (SD) or as median (IQR), depending on the distribution of the variables. Categorical variables are presented as absolute and relative frequencies. Comparisons between both treatment groups were performed by using either Student’s 