Prehabilitation in patients awaiting acute inpatient cardiac surgery: a pilot Study

Background: The concept of “prehabilitation,” or optimising individual physical and mental wellbeing prior to surgery is well established in cancer and orthopaedic populations. However, amongst the cardiac surgery population, the concept is relatively new. Of the few studies available, all focus on the elective surgical population. This pilot feasibility trial is novel as it will focus on the impact of multimodal prehabilitation on the acute inpatient cardiac surgical population. Methods: This single centre, prospective, single arm pilot feasibility trial will recruit 20 inpatients awaiting cardiac surgery. Measurements will be collected at the start of the trial (baseline), 7 days after intervention, and 14 days after the intervention or before the day of surgery. The primary outcome measure will be feasibility and practicality of the programme in an acute inpatient population. We will be looking into participant eligibility, acceptability, recruitment rates, completion rates and barriers to implementing a prehabilitation programme. Secondary outcomes include incidence of study-related adverse events, improvement in 6 minutes walk test (6MWT), hand grip strength, quality of life, anxiety scores and spirometry. At the end of the trial, we will be seeking the feedback of the participants on key components of the programme to help us inform future work. We hypothesise that light to moderate structured exercise training is low risk and feasible in patients awaiting inpatient cardiac surgery. The study was approved by Health Research Authority and Heath and Care Research Wales (Yorkshire & the Humber- Bradford Leeds Research Ethics Committee: REC reference 23/YH/0255) on the 8th November 2023. Discussion: Multimodal prehabilitation could improve individual physical and mental wellbeing whilst awaiting inpatient cardiac surgery. Prehabilitation can provide individuals with a sense of ownership and control over their condition, improve their motivation and independence, and enhance their mental and physical recovery after surgery. Traditionally, patients waiting for cardiac surgery are discouraged from physical activity/ structured exercise training and receive limited information regarding their health. Appropriate physical and psychological support could improve their confidence to mobilise sooner after surgery. This may then facilitate earlier discharge leading to improved hospital bed utilisation and patient flow.