Efficacy of Prehabilitation in Abdominal Cancer Surgery

Colorectal cancer is the third most common form of cancer and the second leading cause of cancer-related death globally. Despite its excellent survival benefit, surgical resection carries a significant burden to patients and the health system, as many surgical patients develop short—and/or long-term complications. Prehabilitation is commonly described as a multimodal intervention bundle tailored to the individual and comprising medical optimisation, smoking cessation, patient education, exercise, nutrition, and psychological support provided before surgery. Risk stratification is an essential component of screening and assessment. Growing evidence supports the efficacy of prehabilitation to improve physical fitness and nutritional status in preparation for surgery, and patient and health system outcomes postoperatively (e.g., postoperative complications, length of stay). Two case studies are provided, highlighting key aspects of multimodal prehabilitation screening, assessment, and treatment of patients undergoing surgery for cancer. Future directions for research include the development of prehabilitation guidelines to standardise interventions and outcome variables.