The Efficacy of Multimodal Prehabilitation in Elderly Patients Undergoing Elective Major Abdominal Surgery: A Systematic Review Protocol

Abstract

Introduction Multimodal prehabilitation has been touted as a potential strategy to better prepare our elderly and frail patients for major surgery. While randomized controlled trials and systematic reviews have been done to investigate the effect of prehabilitation on various surgical cohorts, most of these studies have focused on single modality prehabilitation and without an emphasis on the elderly. This systematic review aims to assess the effect of a multimodal prehabilitation program on elderly patients undergoing major abdominal surgery. MethodsThis protocol has been written according to the PRISMA-P statement and is registered in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO registration number 250281). MEDLINE, EMBASE, CENTRAL, CINAHL and PsychINFO databases will be searched. Only randomized controlled trials with an average study population age ≥65 that has undergone major abdominal operation with at least two components (physical, nutritional, psychological) of prehabilitation will be included. Clinical outcomes that will be collected include post-operative morbidity and mortality, length of stay, 30-day readmission and peri-operative 6-minute walking distance. The risk of bias in included studies will be assessed. Data will be pooled where possible. DiscussionThis systematic review will evaluate and establish the effectiveness of multimodal prehabilitation for the elderly, who represents the group of patients most likely to benefit from prehabilitation. This review with its focus on the elderly will provide us with fresh insight into the utility of prehabilitation that will better inform policy makers in its implementation.PROSPERO Registration: On 20/04/2021, ID 250281