Background:

SARS-CoV-2 hampered the resolution of multiple diseases, including cancer.

Aim:

To show that a multidisciplinary program of Strategies to Advance Recovery (STAR) can be implemented in a public hospital in Chile, despite the global pandemic and state of a national catastrophe, to provide a solution to cancer patients.

Material and Methods:

A retrospective descriptive study, of patients requiring an elective resolution of a colorectal cancer. Patients met the inclusion criteria, established in the STAR program. A total of 24 perioperative interventions were performed in the protocol. Demographic variables, days of hospitalization, complications, mortality, and readmissions were described.

Results:

The 24 interventions of the protocol were successfully implemented, although some partially. Sixteen patients aged 53 to 83 years (50% women) were operated. The median length of hospitalization was four days (range 2 to 9). Four complications were recorded, all were grade I or II according to the Clavien-Dindo classification. Two patients were readmitted. There were no reoperations or mortality. One patient was infected with coronavirus, diagnosed at the time of readmission.

Conclusions:

The STAR protocol reduces the length of hospital stay. In a pandemic context such as COVID-19 it becomes a useful resource and can be implemented in cancer patients, as herein reported.

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