Research

Mixed

A 4-week multimodal prehabilitation program (high-intensity exercise, nutritional support, psychological support, and smoking cessation) significantly reduces severe and medical postoperative complications in patients undergoing elective colorectal cancer surgery.

If you are having colorectal cancer surgery, ask your care team about a prehabilitation program. It typically involves 4 weeks of supervised exercise, nutritional support, and stress management before surgery. This can significantly lower your risk of serious complications and help you recover faster.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
The rate of severe complications was significantly lower in patients undergoing prehabilitation compared with standard care (CCI score >20; 21 of 123 [17.1%] vs 38 of 128 [29.7%]; OR, 0.47 [95% CI, 0.26-0.87]; P = .02)... Patients encountered fewer medical complications (eg, cardiovascular or respiratory) after prehabilitation compared with standard care (19 of 123 [15.4%] vs 35 of 128 [27.3%]; OR, 0.48 [95% CI, 0.26-0.89]; P = .02).
Charlotte J. L. Molenaar et al. · JAMA Surgery · 2023

Why this rating

Large multicenter randomized controlled trial (n=251), though terminated prematurely due to the pandemic, limiting statistical power for secondary outcomes.

Source

Effect of Multimodal Prehabilitation on Reducing Postoperative Complications and Enhancing Functional Capacity Following Colorectal Cancer Surgery

Charlotte J. L. Molenaar et al. · JAMA Surgery · 2023

DOI 10.1001/jamasurg.2023.0198

rct · n=251Cited 427×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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