Preoperative therapeutic programme for elderly patients scheduled for elective abdominal oncological surgery: A randomized controlled pilot study

Objective: Investigation of the feasibility and preliminary effect of a short-term intensive preoperative exercise programme for elderly patients scheduled for elective abdominal oncological surgery. Design: Single-blind randomized controlled pilot study. Setting: Ordinary hospital in the Netherlands. Subjects: Forty-two elderly patients (>60 years). Interventions: Patients were randomly assigned to receive a short-term intensive therapeutic exercise programme to improve muscle strength, aerobic capacity, and functional activities, given in the outpatient department (intervention group; n =22), or home-based exercise advice (control group; n=20). Main measures: Parameters of feasibility, preoperative functional capacity and postoperative course. Results: The intensive training programme was feasible, with a high compliance and no adverse events. Respiratory muscle endurance increased in the preoperative period from 259 ± 273 to 404 ± 349 J in the intervention group and differed significantly from that in the control group (350 ± 299 to 305 ± 323 J; P