This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluated the clinical value of prehabilitation for patients undergoing surgery for upper gastrointestinal tumours

Prehabilitation and rehabilitation support people diagnosed with cancer to live well and improve their quality of life before, during and after treatment. Find resources to support healthcare professi...

Background Prehabilitation is a crucial component of tumor rehabilitation that attempts to improve patients’ preoperative health, although its efficacy in treating patients with cancers of the digestive system is still up for debate. Methods The records from PubMed (MEDLINE), Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, EBSCO, Scopus, CNKI and Wan fang database up to November 2024 were systematically searched. The Cochrane Collaboration tool was employed for evaluating the risk of bias in each study, and the PRISMA 2020 checklist provided by the EQUATOR network was utilized. Results Through quality analysis, 20 articles were included, involving 1719 patients. Although its effect on severe complications is still unknown, the prehabilitation significantly decreased overall postoperative complications when compared to standard care, with a risk ratio (RR) of 0.74 (95% CI: 0.65 to 0.84). Despite not shortening the postoperative hospital stay (MD: -0.13, 95% CI: -0.29 to 0.03), prehabilitation demonstrated notable improvements in the 6-minute walk distance (6MWD), with preoperative gains (MD: 25.87, 95% CI: 14.49 to 37.25) and sustained benefits at 4 weeks postoperatively (MD: 22.48, 95% CI: 7.85 to 37.12). However, no significant differences in 6MWD were observed at 6 or 8 weeks postoperatively. The average improvement in 6MWD from baseline to preoperative was 28.99 (95% CI: 10.89 to 47.08, P = 0.002), and from 4 weeks postoperative to baseline, it was 25.95 (95% CI: 6.84 to 45.07, P = 0.008), with no significant change at 8 weeks. The acceptance and completion rates of prehabilitation were commendably high at 61% (95% CI: 47–75%) and 90% (95% CI: 87–93%), respectively, alongside a relatively low dropout rate of 10% (95% CI: 7% to13%). Conclusions Prehabilitation reduces postoperative complications and improves short-term physical function in digestive surgery patients, with good patient acceptance; however, the long-term effects are unknown due to a lack of follow-up data. Registration It was registered with the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) with the identification code CRD42022361100.

Researchers from Bristol, Cardiff and Exeter have demonstrated that it would be possible to use a randomised controlled trial to evaluate a…

Date Submitted: Oct 27, 2025. Open Peer Review Period: Oct 28, 2025 - Dec 23, 2025.

Rehabilitation protocols vary according to the osseointegration (OI) implant system and the institutions implanting bone-anchored limbs (BALs). While there are limited peer-reviewed OI publications qu...

Exercise and nutritional prehabilitation are associated with lower complication rates and possible improvements in other outcomes among patients preparing for surgery.

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Exercise prehabilitation yields promising results in major surgery, including pancreatic surgery. Whereas most prehabilitation studies focus on effect…

ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04461301.