Table 1

Primary studies in prehabilitation for abdominal surgery

AuthorCountryPopulationIntervention
Exercise only
 Burke et al34UKColorectal6 weeks, 30 min daily supervised exercise
 Cho et al16JapanGastric4 weeks, aerobic three to seven times per week, resistance 1–2 times per week, stretching
 Debette-Gratien et al10FranceTransplant hepatobiliary12 weeks, two times per week, 20 min aerobic, 20 min strength per session
 Dunne et al11UKHepatobiliary12 sessions over 4 weeks, 30 min aerobic exercise per session
 Kim et al35CanadaColorectal4 weeks, home-based aerobic exercise prescription
 Timmerman et al19The NetherlandsAbdominalVariable duration of intervention, two times per week, 2 hours aerobic and strength exercise per session
 West et al36UKColorectal6 weeks, 40 min aerobic exercise daily
IMT only
 Barbalho-Moulim et al15BrazilBariatric2–4 weeks, six times per week, 15 min IMT session
 Dronkers et al37The NetherlandsAAA2+ weeks, six times per week, daily deep breathing exercises and IMT
 Kulkarni et al38UKAbdominalOne of the following for 2–3 weeks:
Group A: control; group B: deep breathing exercises
Group C: incentive spirometer; group D: inspiratory muscle trainer
IMT and exercise
 Carli et al20CanadaColorectalOne of the following for 3–6 weeks:
Bike/strength group: daily cycling 30 min, strength 10–15 min
Walk/breathing group: daily walking and breathing prescription
 Soares et al12BrazilOpen abdominal2–3 weeks, two times per week, 50 min supervised sessions (stretching, IMT, upper/lower extremity exercises, walking, relaxation)
Diet and exercise
 Baillot et al13CanadaBariatric12 weeks: standard of care (dietician, physical activity consultation) and 30 min aerobic and 20–30 min strength training, two times per week
 Kaibori et al14JapanHepatobiliary1 month: exercise (60 min walking and stretching, two times per week) and diet (protein and sodium restriction)
Multimodal
 Dronkers et al9The NetherlandsColorectal2–4 weeks: 60 min supervised session, two times per week (resistance, IMT, aerobic, functional training) and
45 min daily home exercise (walking, cycling, IMT)
 Gillis et al7CanadaColorectal4 weeks: exercise (kinesiologist consult, 50 min aerobic/resistance three times per week), diet (dietician, nutrition prescription) and psychology (psychologist to teach coping strategies)
 Li et al8CanadaColorectalVariable duration: exercise (kinesiologist, 30 min aerobic/resistance three times per week), diet (dietician, whey protein supplement) and psychology (psychologist for anxiety reduction)

  • AAA, abdominal aortic aneurysm; IMT, inspiratory muscle training.