Prehabilitation for video assisted thoracic surgery : effects on aerobic capacity, lung function and quality of life

Abstract

Background: Video-Assisted Thoracic Surgery is a minimally invasive surgical technique that has become increasingly common for thoracic procedures such as lung resections (Shigemura et al. 2006). It aims at improving the physiologic reserves of the patients before an operation to withstand the stress of the surgery (Liu ZJ et al. 2020). The study aims to investigate whether a prehabilitation programme improves the aerobic capacity, lung function and Quality of Life of patients diagnosed with lung cancer prior to Video-Assisted Thoracic Surgery. Methodology: 22 participants who met the inclusion criteria were invited to attend for the prehabilitation programme at Sir Anthony Mamo Oncology Centre. The duration of the programme was that of 7 weeks, with sessions held twice weekly. All participants in the experimental group were asked to follow a regime of exercises consisted of aerobic, resistance and breathing exercises. The control group did not carry out the exercise regime. The cohort chosen for the study underwent an assessment at week 0 in the initial assessment for the 6-minute walk test, spirometry, and the St. George’s Respiratory Questionnaire. All tests were repeated at week 4, week 7 prior to Video Assisted Thoracic Surgery and repeated at 1-month and 2-months post-VATS. Results: A 7-week prehabilitation programme demonstrated minimal improvements in the 6-minute walk test distance, symptom relief of the St. George’s Respiratory Questionnaire, and post-operative lung function of the Forced Expiratory Volume in one second, in the experimental group. Discussion and Conclusion: The intervention suggested slight benefits with minimal clinical impact, mainly due to the small sample size and the inconsistent attendance during the data collection process since 3 participants did not attend for 75% of the sessions. Repeating the study using a larger sample size is recommended to evaluate further the significance and representation of the results obtained.