Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31228083›Full record

SynthesisJournal of gastrointestinal surgery : official journal of the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract2020

A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Physical Exercise Prehabilitation in Major Abdominal Surgery (PROSPERO 2017 CRD42017080366).

Patrick Heger, Pascal Probst, Joachim Wiskemann, Karen Steindorf, Markus K Diener, André L Mihaljevic

Abstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Journal of gastrointestinal surgery : official journal of the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 79 papers, 17 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
79citing papers in PubMed, 17 pooled it
16.7field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

79 citing papers in PubMed, 17 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 176 citations in OpenAlex.

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  18. The effects of psychological intervention on negative emotions, pain, and sleep in patients with advanced colon cancer.Clinical & translational oncology : official publication of the Federation of Spanish Oncology Societies and of the National Cancer Institute of Mexico · 2025
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  19. Home-based prehabilitation improves physical conditions measured by ergospirometry and 6MWT in colorectal cancer patients: a randomized controlled pilot study.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2023
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19 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Patrick HegerDepartment of General, Visceral and Transplant Surgery, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 110, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany.
Pascal ProbstDepartment of General, Visceral and Transplant Surgery, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 110, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany.
Joachim WiskemannNational Center of Tumor Diseases (NCT), Im Neuenheimer Feld 460, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany.
Karen SteindorfNational Center of Tumor Diseases (NCT), Im Neuenheimer Feld 460, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany.
Markus K DienerDepartment of General, Visceral and Transplant Surgery, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 110, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany.
André L MihaljevicDepartment of General, Visceral and Transplant Surgery, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 110, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany. andre.mihaljevic@med.uni-heidelberg.de.ORCID 0000-0003-1902-657X
German Society of Surgery · DEGerman Cancer Research Center · DENational Center for Tumor Diseases · DE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundPhysical exercise prehabilitation has been proposed to improve postoperative outcomes in patients undergoing major abdominal surgery. The aim of this systematic review was to investigate the effect of preoperative exercise training compared with standard care on postoperative outcomes in major abdominal surgery.

methodsRandomized controlled trials (RCT) comparing prehabilitation with standard care were identified by a systematic literature search of MEDLINE and CENTRAL. Qualitative and quantitative analyses of perioperative outcome data were conducted. Meta-analyses were performed wherever possible and meaningful.

resultsA total of eight trials including 442 patients met the inclusion criteria. These trials investigated the effect of prehabilitation in patient cohorts undergoing major liver, colorectal, gastroesophageal, and general abdominal surgery. Quantitative analyses of all included trials showed a significant reduction in postoperative pulmonary complications (OR 0.37; 0.20 to 0.67; p = 0.001) as well as in postoperative overall morbidity (OR 0.52; 0.30 to 0.88; p = 0.01) in the prehabilitation group compared with standard care. The length of hospital stay showed no significant differences between the groups (MD - 0.58; - 1.28 to 0.13; p = 0.11). Risk of bias and methodological quality varied substantially among the trials, most of which were small single-center studies.

conclusionPrehabilitation including a physical exercise intervention may lead to a reduction of postoperative pulmonary complications as well as less overall morbidity compared with standard care in patients undergoing major abdominal surgery. Further, well-designed RCT are needed to evaluate these potential positive effects in more detail and to identify suitable target populations. PROTOCOL REGISTRATION: PROSPERO 2017 CRD42017080366.

Indexed as

Preoperative CarePreoperative ExerciseAbdomenExerciseHumansLength of StayPostoperative ComplicationsMajor abdominal surgeryPrehabilitation

Identifiers

PMID31228083
OpenAlexW2952487463

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.