Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) protocols represent a multidisciplinary, evidence-based approach to perioperative care designed to reduce surgical stress, accelerate recovery, improve clinical outcomes, and optimize healthcare resource utilization. Since their introduction in the late twentieth century, ERAS programs have transformed surgical practice across multiple specialties, including colorectal, gynecological, urological, orthopedic, hepatobiliary, and cardiac surgery. ERAS protocols integrate interventions throughout the preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative phases of care, emphasizing patient education, optimized nutrition, minimally invasive techniques, multimodal analgesia, early mobilization, and reduced opioid use. Numerous studies have demonstrated that ERAS implementation decreases postoperative complications, shortens hospital stays, reduces healthcare costs, and improves patient satisfaction without increasing readmission rates. Despite these benefits, challenges related to protocol adherence, institutional resources, multidisciplinary collaboration, and implementation variability remain significant barriers. This review examines the principles, components, clinical outcomes, challenges, and future directions of ERAS protocols. Findings suggest that widespread adoption of ERAS programs can substantially improve surgical care quality and patient-centered outcomes