Impact of Exergames on the Rehabilitation of Cancer Patients Undergoing Major Abdominal Surgery: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Exergames can be an appealing strategy that is integrated into post-abdominal surgery rehabilitation.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of exergame rehabilitation in improving independence in activities of daily living (ADLs) and patient balance after abdominal cancer surgery.

Methods: A randomized control-group study was carried out in an oncological hospital in Portugal. Seventy postoperative patients were included, and data collection took place between January 2023 and May 2023. The patients were randomly assigned to either an exergame rehabilitation program (n = 35) or a traditional rehabilitation program (n = 35). The assessed outcomes were the Barthel and Berg scales, and data collection occurred at 3 different time points: admission, 48 hours postoperatively, and on the seventh day after surgery.

Results: At the third assessment, a statistically significant difference was observed between the 2 groups for both indicators, ADLs and balance.

Conclusions: There was an improvement in ADLs and balance in the exergames group. By the seventh day after surgery, the intervention group showed improvement in balance and ADLs compared with the control group.

Implications for practice: The use of exergames can be a solution to the challenges of traditional rehabilitation methods after abdominal surgery for cancer for postoperative patients. This is the first study carried out in this specific population.