The effect of prehabilitation on the postoperative outcomes of patients undergoing colorectal surgery: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Study objective: Prehabilitation is analogous to marathon training and includes preoperative preparation for exercise, as well as nutrition and psychology. However, evidence-based recommendations to guide prehabilitation before colorectal surgery are limited. We aimed to evaluate the effect of prehabilitation on the postoperative outcomes of patients undergoing colorectal surgery. Design: This study is a systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods: The PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane databases were searched for studies reporting the effect of prehabilitation strategies versus standard care or rehabilitation in patients undergoing colorectal surgery. The primary outcomes were overall postoperative complications and length of hospital stay (LOS), and the secondary outcome was functional capacity (measured using the 6-min walk test [6MWT]) at 4 and 8 weeks after surgery. Main results: Fifteen studies with 1,306 participants were included in this meta-analysis. The results showed no significant reduction in the number of overall postoperative complications (risk ratio = 1.02; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.79-1.31; p = 0.878) or LOS (standardized mean difference = 0.04; 95% CI = -0.11 to 0.20; p = 0.589) in patients who underwent colorectal surgery with or without prehabilitation strategy. Additionally, there were no significant differences in the functional capacity estimated using the 6MWT at 4 and 8 weeks postoperatively. Conclusions: Prehabilitation did not significantly affect the number of postoperative complications, LOS, or functional capacity of patients undergoing colorectal surgery. Whether prehabilitation should be recommended deserves further consideration.