What?
Around 35,000 patients have heart surgery in the UK every year. It is well known that patients who are less active and have more health problems are more likely to have complications after their heart surgery.
Patients currently receive a period of heart rehabilitation after their surgery to help them recover and get back to as full a life as possible, but it is now recognised that an exercise programme carried out prior to surgery (called prehabilitation) might improve recovery and quality of life post surgery.
The aim of this trial was to find out if prehabilitation improves exercise capacity prior to surgery.
How?
180 eligible and consenting patients who were due to be having heart surgery were split into two groups.
One group received the standard advice given prior to surgery and the other group took part in a four week prehabilitation programme consisting of twice weekly supervised exercise classes, a home exercise programme and breathing exercises.
All participants completed a questionnaire about their general health and had a fitness test before and after their surgery. These data was analysed to determine which group did better before and after their surgery.
Chief investigator
Enoch Akowuah
Current status
Complete. The results are due to be released in July 2023.
Participating sites
South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.