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Structured presurgery prehabilitation for aged patients undergoing elective surgery significantly improves surgical outcomes and reduces cost: A nonrandomized sequential comparative prospective cohort study
Author(s) -
Koh Frederick H.,
Loh Caroline H.,
Tan Winson J.,
Ho Leonard M.L.,
Yen Dulcena,
Chua Jason M.W.,
Kok Shawn S.X.,
Sivarajah Sharmini S.,
Chew MinHoe,
Foo FungJoon
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
nutrition in clinical practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.725
H-Index - 71
eISSN - 1941-2452
pISSN - 0884-5336
DOI - 10.1002/ncp.10787
Subject(s) - medicine , prehabilitation , prospective cohort study , cohort , colorectal surgery , surgery , physical therapy , abdominal surgery
Abstract Background With increasing global life expectancy, the number of major surgeries performed on aged adults invariably increases. This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of a structured prehabilitative program for aged colorectal cancer patients in improving short‐term surgical outcomes. Methods A prospective philanthropically sponsored Programme for Enhanced Elderly Recovery at Sengkang General Hospital (PEERS) was initiated in February 2017 for patients ≥70‐years‐old who were due to undergo elective colectomies. These patients were put through a 2‐ to 4‐week‐long program before surgery, which included geriatric assessment, nutrition supplementation, and resistance training. They were compared with patients from a similar age group before PEERS was introduced (non‐PEERS). Results Fifty‐eight patients, with a median age of 78.5 (70–93) years, were recruited from a single institution to undergo PEERS. Baseline characteristics between the groups were similar. There was no significant improvement of anthropometric and functional characteristics before and after PEERS. Duration of hospitalization was shorter in the PEERS group (9 vs 11 days, P = 0.01). Both groups had similar 30‐days’ morbidity rates (8.6% vs 17.4%, P = 0.26). The PEERS group had significant improvement in their median EuroQol‐5 Dimension score (0.70 presurgery to 0.80 6‐months’ postsurgery, P = 0.01). After multivariate analysis, the average duration of hospitalization in the PEERS group was 6.8 days shorter ( P = 0.018; CI, 1.2–12.4) after adjusting for modality of surgery and complications. This represented a cost saving of USD$11,838.80. Conclusion A standardized prehabilitation program for aged adults reduced the duration of hospitalization, improved the quality of life after surgery, and reduced costs.