How much time do I need for prehabilitation?
You have a date for surgery and you’re wondering if you have enough time to prehabilitate. Maybe your surgery is in a few days, a few weeks, or maybe even a few months. The good news is, you can engage in prehabilitation at any time before your surgery, no matter how much or how little time you have. However, what you can achieve and what you might focus on will likely be very different depending on several factors, including your surgical wait time, the type of surgery you are preparing for, your current physical condition, and the specific goals of your prehabilitation program.
While there is no one-size-fits-all answer, prehabilitation typically involves a period of weeks to months leading up to the surgery.
Because the benefits of prehabilitation as they pertain to physical function before and after surgery, as well as the relationship between fitness and surgical outcomes, an often-recommended dose of prehabilitation takes about 4-6 weeks. This is typically the time it takes to make meaningful improvements in physical fitness. But, if you have more time and are able to train and improve your fitness even more, that may be even better for your health.
If you have a very long surgical wait time (for example, if you’re waiting for an organ transplant or for some orthopaedic surgeries, which can take several months in some cases), your prehabilitation program will likely need to evolve as your health changes. For instance, your exercise and other health behaviours may be improving your fitness, and as your body become accustomed to your training and adapts to become stronger, you will have to challenge yourself with difficult exercises so you can maintain your fitness progress.
If you have a very short time before surgery, perhaps only a few days, your prehabilitation may focus on stress management, nutritional supplementation, or education about your rehabilitation. Research has shown that stress in the preoperative period can impair immune system function and healing. A large body of evidence also supports supplementation in some patients, either through carbohydrates or protein. And, because rehabilitation is often very important to a healthy recovery, starting early and being aware of what movements or exercises to do while in hospital and after discharge can help you plan for these activities. These activities are often best supported by a health professional to ensure they are appropriate for you and do not risk undermining your health prior to surgery.
Ultimately, the duration of prehabilitation is not a fixed timeframe, but rather a process that aims to improve your physical fitness, strength, and overall health prior to surgery.
The specific activities you do during prehabilitation will be tailored to your condition, needs, and goals. Your healthcare team will help determine the appropriate duration and content of your prehabilitation program based on your individual circumstances.
Consider some of this research related to the duration of prehabilitation programs:
“Prehabilitation before surgery: Is it for all patients?”
“Multimodal Prehabilitation: a Mini Review of Contemporary Research”
