Presurgery exercise-based conditioning interventions (prehabilitation) in adults undergoing lower limb surgery for peripheral arterial disease

Preoperative exercise training for adults undergoing elective major vascular surgery: A systematic review

Patients undergoing major vascular surgery may have an increased risk of postoperative complications due to poor 'fitness for surgery'. Prehabilitation aims to optimise physical fitness and risk factors before surgery to improve outcomes. The role of exercise-based prehabilitation in vascular surgery is currently unclear. Therefore, the aim of this systematic review was to assess the benefits and harms of preoperative exercise training in adults undergoing elective vascular surgery. We searched MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, and CENTRAL databases, trial registries, and forward and backward citations for studies published between January 2008 and April 2021. We included randomised trials that compared patients receiving exercise training with those receiving usual care or no training before vascular surgery. Outcomes included mortality, complications, and health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Three trials with 197 participants were included. All studies involved people undergoing abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair. Low-certainty evidence could not differentiate between rates of all-cause mortality. Moderate-certainty evidence indicated that postoperative cardiac and renal complications were less likely to occur in people who participated in preoperative exercise training compared with those who did not. Low-certainty evidence also indicated better postoperative HRQOL outcomes in people who undertook prehabilitation. There were no serious exercise-related adverse events. The evidence on preoperative exercise training for AAA patients is promising, but currently insufficiently robust for this intervention to be recommended in clinical guidelines. High-quality trials are needed to establish its clinical and cost-effectiveness. Research is also needed to determine the feasibility and effects of prehabilitation before lower-limb revascularisation. Trial registration: PROSPERO ID: CRD42021245933.

Multimodal Prehabilitation to Improve Quality of Life and Functional Capacity in Peripheral Arterial Disease: A Case Series

Objectives

To assess feasibility and effect of multimodal prehabilitation in patients with severe life-limiting intermittent claudication and complex infrainguinal disease.

Design

Case series of patients who underwent a 12-week prehabilitation program.

Setting

Outpatient clinic of a public tertiary hospital

Participants

Patients with a diagnosis of severe life-limiting intermittent claudication (Fontaine stage IIb and III) with complex infrainguinal disease or previous failed bypass attempts (N=5) who were referred to the prehabilitation clinic by a vascular surgeon.

Interventions

Patients underwent a baseline assessment that included quality of life questionnaires and functional capacity tests. After baseline assessment, they received a 12-week prehabilitation program that consisted of (1) a supervised exercise session 1 time per week; (2) home-based exercise prescription; (3) nutritional counseling; (4) smoking cessation; and (5) psychosocial intervention. Adherence to all components was recorded as well as the occurrence of any adverse event. After completion of the 12-week program, patients were reassessed.

Main Outcome Measure

Feasibility of prehabilitation measured by adherence to the different components of the program and occurrence of adverse events.

Results

All 5 patients completed the program. No serious adverse events occurred during the length of prehabiliation. Median adherence to each prehabilitation component was 91.7% (interquartile range [IQR], 33.5%) for supervised training, 91.7% (IQR, 40%) for home-based exercise, and 75% (IQR, 50%) for nutrition. Three of the 5 patients underwent psychosocial intervention and all who were active smokers enrolled in the smoking cessation program. Functional capacity measured with the 6-minute walk distance improved by 70 m (IQR, 99 m), and disease-specific quality of life measured with the Vascular Quality of Life Questionnaire improved by 25%.

Conclusion

Multimodal prehabilitation appears to be a feasible tool that could be used to increase functional capacity and quality of life for patients with complex infrainguinal disease and expected poor revascularization outcome or previous failed bypass attempts.

Patients with Diabetes Complicated by Peripheral Artery Disease: the Current State of Knowledge on Physiotherapy Interventions

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is one of the major public health problems that account for morbidity, mortality, and disability worldwide. The presence of DM increases the risk of peripheral artery disease (PAD), as well as accelerates its course, making these patients more susceptible to ischemic events and impaired functional status. Unfortunately, alternative treatments for vascular complications in diabetes are poorly researched. Physiotherapy (kinesitherapy combined with different physical therapy agents) in individuals with DM and coexisting PAD may offer an important complementary therapy alternative. Early therapeutic measures can significantly improve patient outcomes, reduce cardiovascular risk, and improve daily life quality. The article provides an update on the current state of knowledge on physiotherapy interventions in the course of DM in patients with coexisting PAD.

Presurgery exercise-based conditioning interventions (prehabilitation) in adults undergoing lower limb surgery for peripheral arterial disease

BACKGROUND

Lower limb peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a type of cardiovascular disease where the blood vessels that carry the blood to the legs are hardened and narrowed. The most severe manifestation of PAD is critical limb ischaemia (CLI). This condition results in symptoms of intractable rest pain, non-healing wounds and ulceration, gangrene or both. PAD affects more than 200 million people worldwide and approximately 3% to 5% of people aged over 40 have PAD, rising to 18% in people over 70 years of age. Between 5% to 10% of symptomatic PAD patients will progress to CLI over a five-year period and the five year cumulative incidence rate for asymptomatic patients with PAD deteriorating to intermittent claudication is 7%, with 21% of these progressing to CLI. Treatment options include angioplasty, bypass or amputation of the limb, when life or limb is threatened. People with CLI have a high risk of mortality and morbidity. The mortality rates during a surgical admission are approximately 5%. Within one year of surgery, the mortality rate rises to 22%. Postoperative complications are as high as 30% and readmission rates vary between 7% to 18% in people with CLI. Despite recent advances in surgical technology, anaesthesia and perioperative care, a proportion of surgical patients have a suboptimal recovery. Presurgery conditioning (prehabilitation) is a multimodal conditioning intervention carried out prior to surgery using a combination of exercise, with or without nutritional or psychological interventions, or both. The use of prehabilitation is gaining momentum, particularly in elderly patients undergoing surgery and patients undergoing colorectal cancer surgery, as a means of optimising fitness to improve the prognosis for people undergoing the physiological stress of surgery. People with PAD are characterised by poor mobility and physical function and have a lower level of fitness as a result of disease progression. Therefore, prehabilitation may be an opportunity to improve their recovery following surgery. However, as multimodal prehabilitation requires considerable resources, it is important to assess whether it is superior to usual care. This review aimed to compare prehabilitation with usual care (defined as a preoperative assessment, including blood and urine tests). The key outcomes were postoperative complications, mortality and readmissions within 30 days of the surgical procedure, and one-year survival rates.

OBJECTIVES

To assess the effectiveness of prehabilitation (preoperative exercise, either alone or in combination with nutritional or psychological interventions, or both) on postoperative outcomes in adults with PAD undergoing open lower limb surgery.

SEARCH METHODS

The Cochrane Vascular Information Specialist searched the Cochrane Vascular Specialised Register, CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform and ClinicalTrials.gov trials register to 25 September 2019.

SELECTION CRITERIA

We considered all published and unpublished randomised controlled trials (RCTs) comparing presurgery interventions and usual care. Primary outcomes were postoperative complications, mortality and readmission to hospital within 30 days of the surgical procedure.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

Two review authors independently reviewed all records identified by the searches conducted by the Cochrane Vascular Information Specialist. We planned to undertake data collection and analysis in accordance with recommendations described in the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions.

MAIN RESULTS

We found no RCTs that met the inclusion criteria for this review.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS

We found no RCTs conducted to determine the effects of prehabilitation on mortality or other postoperative outcomes when compared to usual care for patients with PAD. As a consequence, we were unable to provide any evidence to guide the treatment of patients with PAD undergoing surgery. To perform a randomised controlled trial of presurgery conditioning would be challenging but trials are warranted to provide solid evidence on this topic.