Prehabilitation Program for Patients Awaiting Elective Heart Surgery at Increased Risk of Postoperative Complications: Feasibility and Potential Clinical Outcomes
Exercise: What distinguishes this intervention from others is its hybrid delivery model, combining virtual more than in-person sessions to increase accessibility and adherence. Additionally, it incorporates specific inspiratory muscle training, which is often overlooked in standard prehabilitation programs, and emphasizes a personalized progression based on each participant's functional capacity and feedback. This tailored approach aims to optimize physical readiness before surgery while minimizing patient burden and travel requirements.
Study summary
The goal of this study is to learn if an exercise-based prehabilitation program can help people who are waiting for heart surgery and are at higher risk of complications recover better.
The main questions it aims to answer are:
Can a home-based prehabilitation program prescribed by a physiotherapist be done safely and realistically before heart surgery?
Participants will:
Take part in a personalized exercise program for a 8 to 16 weeks before surgery
Do breathing muscle training at home
Meet with a physiotherapist once a week, either in person or by video call
Be assessed before and after the program
Researchers will compare the postoperative results with those of patients who received usual care only.
Eligibility
Sex
ALL
Min age
18 Years
Max age
—
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion Criteria:
* A high risk of perioperative and postoperative complications. This risk is determined based on the predictive thresholds for postoperative complications.
* A waiting period of at least 8 weeks.
* Access to a smartphone, tablet, or computer for videoconference visits.
Exclusion Criteria:
* Unstable angina, malignant arrhythmias, active endocarditis/myocarditis, myocardial infarction within the last 2 weeks, left main coronary artery disease ≥ 50% on coronary angiography, severe aortic stenosis, severe mitral insufficiency, and decompensated heart failure.
* Any other acute condition affecting vital signs or causing significant symptoms.
* Physical or cognitive impairment limiting the ability to participate in the program.
Primary outcome measure(s)
Recruitment Rate (%) — From enrollment to the end of treatment at maximum 16 weeks Proportion of eligible candidates who enroll in the study. Recruitment rate will be calculated as the number of participants enrolled divided by the number of eligible candidates, multiplied by 100.
Adherence Rate (%) — From enrollment to the end of treatment at maximum 16 weeks Proportion of participants who complete at least 70% of prescribed exercise sessions. Calculated as the number of participants meeting this threshold divided by the total number enrolled, multiplied by 100.
Program Safety - number of participants experiencing exercise-related adverse events — From enrollment to the end of treatment at maximum 16 weeks Count of participants experiencing one or more adverse events during the program, including angina, arrhythmias, myocardial infarction, acute heart failure, or sudden cardiac death of cardiac origin.
Participant Satisfaction - likelihood to recommend — From enrollment to the end of treatment at maximum 16 weeks Among participants who complete the program, the self-reported likelihood of recommending the program to others, measured on a numeric rating scale from 0 ("not at all likely") to 10 ("extremely likely").
Participant Satisfaction - likelihood to repeat — From enrollment to the end of treatment at maximum 16 weeks Among participants who complete the program, the self-reported likelihood of participating in the program again, measured on a numeric rating scale from 0 ("not at all likely") to 10 ("extremely likely").
This page summarises publicly available registry data for informational purposes — not medical advice. Eligibility is determined by each study team; patients should discuss participation with their clinician.
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