The role of prehabilitation in frail surgical patients: A systematic review

Introduction: Increasing emphasis is being placed on the detection of frailty in the pre-operative setting given its association with surgical morbidity and mortality. Prehabilitation seeks to increase the physiological reserve of frail patients, attenuating the risk of irreversible functional decline following surgery. Aim/Hypothesis: This systematic review appraises the evidence available for prehabilitation in frail surgical patients. We proposed that exercise prehabilitation would especially benefit frail patients, with improvements in pre-operative functional capacity, and reductions in complications and length of hospital stay. Methods: A literature search was conducted in MEDLINE, PubMed and CINAHL databases. Studies were included if they consisted of a prehabilitation intervention in frail patients undergoing surgery and specified a frailty model/index. Eight studies were included for analysis, 2 of which are ongoing studies. Results: In 3 studies, prehabilitation consisted of an exercise intervention alone. There was a high feasibility of prehabilitation and a trend to improved pre-operative function, however, no evidence of improved post-operative functional recovery was there. In 2 studies, prehabilitation consisted of both exercise and nutritional interventions. Reductions in mortality and duration of hospital stay were reported, but the quality of evidence was judged to be very low. There was a lack of evidence of improved outcomes following pre-operative inspiratory muscle training in frail patients. Discussion: This systematic review focuses on prehabilitation in frail surgical patients and reports that evidence supporting any outcome is limited, despite high feasibility and acceptability. There is a need for large randomised controlled trials to better establish the effects of prehabilitation in frail patients.