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Background Presurgical optimisation programmes decrease the risk of postoperative complications, reduce hospital stays and speed up patient recovery. They usually involve a multidisciplinary team addressing physical, nutritional and psychosocial issues. The objective of this study was to assess the results of implementing a presurgical optimisation programme led by a liaison nurse in patients undergoing major surgery in a tertiary general hospital. Methods Observational, retrospective, descriptive, cross-sectional, comparative study based on the revision of patients’ health records undergoing major surgery between January 2019 and December 2022. Patients entering the presurgical optimisation programme (intervention group) were compared with patients receiving usual medical care (control group). The presurgical optimisation programme consisted of oral nutritional supplementation, physical exercise, strengthening of lung capacity and psychological and emotional support. Frequency (%) of surgery complications and use of healthcare resources (duration of hospitalisation, time spent in the intensive care unit (ICU), and readmission) at day 30 were recorded. Descriptive statistics were applied. Results 211 patients (58.5% men, mean age: 65.76 years (SD: 11.5), 75.2%. non-smokers; mean body mass index (BMI): 28.32 (SD: 5.38); mean Nutritional Risk Score (NRS) 3.71 (SD: 1.35; oncology diagnosis: 88.6%) were included: 135 in the intervention group, and 76 in the control group. Average duration of the presurgical optimisation programme was 20 days (SD: 5). Frequency of postoperative complications was 25% (n = 33) in the intervention group and 52.6% (n = 40) in the control group (p < 0.001) [odds ratio (OR) = 3.4; 95% confidence interval (CI) (1.8; 6.2)]. 14.5% (n = 19) of patients in the intervention group and 34.2% (n = 26) in the control group had remote postoperative complications [OR = 3.1; 95% CI (1.6; 6.2)]. Patients in the intervention group spent fewer days in hospital [mean: 8.34 (SD: 6.70) vs 11.63 (SD: 10.63)], and there were fewer readmissions at 30 days (7.6% vs 19.7%) compared with the control group. Conclusions A presurgical optimisation programme led by a liaison nurse decreases the rate of immediate and late surgical complications and reduces hospital stay and readmissions in patients undergoing major surgery.

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