{"id":29847,"date":"2017-09-06T09:53:39","date_gmt":"2017-09-06T13:53:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/?p=29847\/"},"modified":"2020-09-25T15:18:16","modified_gmt":"2020-09-25T19:18:16","slug":"prehab-helps-patients-recover-surgery-faster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/healthy-tomorrows\/prehab-helps-patients-recover-surgery-faster\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Prehab\u2019 helps patients recover from surgery faster"},"content":{"rendered":"

The literature backs up the benefits of \u2018prehab,\u2019 said Elyse Pratt-Johnson (left), a physiotherapist who works with patients before surgery to improve their fitness and function so they recover faster.<\/em><\/p>\n

You\u2019ve heard of \u2018rehab\u2019 but what about \u2018prehab\u2019?<\/p>\n

\u201cThe name is not well known but the concept sure has had a positive uptake,\u201d said Jane Brownrigg, Clinical Manager of Cardiac Rehabilitation at the Heart Institute, who launched the Cardiac Prehab program<\/a> in December 2016. \u201cIn our Cardiac Rehab world, we have not come across any other centre in Canada offering this type of prehab programming.\u201d<\/p>\n

More and more, patients are working with physiotherapists<\/a> before surgery, rather than just afterwards, to improve their fitness and function so they recover faster. Depending on the program, prehab may also involve screening for smoking and diabetes, counselling about what to expect before and after surgery, physical assessments or a walking and exercise program.<\/p>\n

Kathleen Hanna, who has cystic fibrosis, worked with a physiotherapist and a personal trainer before her double-lung transplant<\/a> surgery, building up her shoulder, chest and back muscles, and improving her cardio.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was in the best shape I could be while I was sick, so that really helped me when it came to the transplant,\u201d said Hanna, who prepared here at The Ottawa Hospital, but had the surgery in Toronto. \u201cI wasn\u2019t just lying around at home. In Toronto, they were glad I was able to do the exercises.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Kathleen<\/p>\n

Kathleen Hanna, who has cystic fibrosis, built up her shoulder, chest and back muscles, and improved her cardio before her double-lung transplant surgery, helping her to recover faster. <\/em><\/p>\n

 \u201cAbsolutely, prehab helps these patients,\u201d said Elyse Pratt-Johnson, a physiotherapist who works with thoracic surgery patients like Hanna. \u201cWhen you\u2019re going into surgery, it\u2019s kind of like the workout of your life. Your heart rate and oxygen needs will be up. So if you train for that workout, you will do better.\u201d<\/p>\n

The literature backs up the benefits of prehab, said Pratt-Johnson. A 2013 study of lung cancer patients<\/a> found that 59 percent of patients initially considered \u2018inoperable\u2019 were moved to the \u2018operable\u2019 category after prehab exercise training. Those who did prehab also had shorter hospital stays.<\/p>\n

Prehab includes more than just exercises. Physiotherapists Leslie Balkwill and Marcia O\u2019Connor lead information sessions at the Riverside Campus for patients before their joint replacement surgery. In the one-time sessions \u2013 which began in 2007 \u2013 patients learn how to prepare themselves for surgery, for their hospital stay and going home; what equipment they might need at home; and exercises to do before surgery.<\/p>\n

\"Jane<\/p>\n

Patients who go through prehab are more likely to show up for rehab after their surgery, said Jane Brownrigg,<\/em> who helped launch the <\/em>Cardiac Prehab program<\/em><\/a> at the Heart Institute in December 2016. Photo: Heart Institute.<\/em><\/p>\n

 \u201cPrehab is a time when they\u2019re hungry for the information,\u201d said Brownrigg. \u201cWhen people get instructions immediately post-op, they don\u2019t always retain the information.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Cardiac Prehab program is being evaluated, but an initial finding is that those who go through it are more likely to show up for Rehab after their surgery, which reduces the risk of mortality from any cause by 27 percent and cardiac mortality by 31 percent.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe talk about the patient being part of the team but Prehab really puts our money where our mouth is,\u201d said Brownrigg. \u201cBefore surgery, we really do need patients to be physically active, eat well, sleep as well as they can, monitor glucose levels, quit smoking, and take their medication as prescribed.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You\u2019ve heard of \u2018rehab\u2019 but what about \u2018prehab\u2019? More and more, patients are working with physiotherapists before surgery, rather than just afterwards, to improve their fitness and function so they recover faster.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":29854,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[402,381,483],"class_list":["post-29847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-healthy-tomorrows","tag-leadership","tag-patient-experience","tag-patients-as-partners"],"acf":[],"wps_subtitle":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29847"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29847\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29854"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}