Prehabilitation- what is it?

Our senior Exercise Physiologist Mick Gray in our latest blog talks you through what 'Prehab' is all about!

What is Prehabilitation?

Prehabilitation is the process of enhancing an individual's functional capacity to enable them to withstand a forthcoming stressor, such as major surgery, and associated inactivity. The goal of Prehabilitation (or Prehab) is to help you become healthier and stronger before surgery and make recovery easier. The concept is illustrated below with the green line showing the Prehab client compared to the non-Prehab client (red line).

Prehabilitation in the form of preseason strength and conditioning programs has also been used in sport, involving individualised, preparatory, sport-specific exercises and intensive training with the aim of reducing the risk of injury.

Benefits of Prehabilitation

Prehabilitation in the form of therapeutic exercise is a method of increasing physical activity to improve physical fitness before the upcoming surgery and improve your recovery process post-surgery, often reducing the time taken to return to normal activity levels, including work and sport. This action is to counteract any physical decline before and after surgery and allow you to undertake rehabilitation successfully, so you can return to your own environment with better outcomes. These include less pain, improved function, more independence, and better quality of life.

PROmotion and Prehabilitation

Prehabilitation can be much broader than focusing on physical conditioning, as it can also encompass other interventions, such as education on nutrition, weight management, surgical procedures, and other lifestyle factors. Current evidence and best practice is for a multi-modal prehabilitation program provided by a team of allied health professionals working with you and your GP and surgeon.

PROmotion is here to assist in your Prehab. Our team of Physiotherapists, Exercise Physiologists, and Dietitian are ready to guide you through this process to help you both before and after your operation.

Click here for Exercise Physiology appointments.

Click here for Physiotherapy appointments.

Click here for Nutrition Nation (Dietitian).

References

Banugo, P. & Amoako, D. (2017). Prehabilitation. BJA Education, 17 (12): 401–405.

Durrand, J., Singh, S. & Danjoux, G. (2019). Prehabilitation. Clinical Medicine, 19(6): 458-464.

Tew, G., Ayyash, R., Durrand, J. & Danjoux, G. (2018). Clinical guideline and recommendations on pre-operative exercise training in patients awaiting major non-cardiac surgery. Anaesthesia, 73(6): 750-768.

Tew, G., Ayyash, R., Durrand, J. & Danjoux, G. (2018). Clinical guideline and recommendations on pre-operative exercise training in patients awaiting major non-cardiac surgery. Anaesthesia, 73(6): 750-768.