Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39934951›Full record

SynthesisColorectal disease : the official journal of the Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland2025

Evaluating the therapeutic quality of prehabilitation programmes in patients scheduled for colorectal surgery: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Evy E J Jetten, Ruud F W Franssen, Melissa J J Voorn, Roberto Falz, Martin Busse, Bart C Bongers, Maryska L G Janssen-Heijnen, Thomas J Hoogeboom

Abstract readSystematic ReviewMeta-Analysis
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Colorectal disease : the official journal of the Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Evaluating the therapeutic quality of prehabilitation programmes in patients scheduled for colorectal surgery: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Colorectal disease : the official journal of the Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland · 2025
    Pooled it
  2. Review
  3. Prehabilitation and postoperative outcomes in colorectal surgery: an umbrella review.Journal of anesthesia, analgesia and critical care · 2026
    Review
  4. Review
  5. Review
  6. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Evy E J JettenDepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery, VieCuri Medical Centre, Venlo, The Netherlands.ORCID 0009-0007-0489-0716
Ruud F W FranssenDepartment of Clinical Physical Therapy, VieCuri Medical Centre, Venlo, The Netherlands.
Melissa J J VoornDepartment of Rehabilitation Medicine, Care and Public Health Research Institute, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Roberto FalzInstitute of Sport Medicine and Prevention, University Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
Martin BusseInstitute of Sport Medicine and Prevention, University Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
Bart C BongersDepartment of Nutrition and Movement Sciences, Institute of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism (NUTRIM), Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-1948-9788
Maryska L G Janssen-HeijnenDepartment of Clinical Epidemiology, VieCuri Medical Centre, Venlo, The Netherlands.
Thomas J HoogeboomIQ Health Science Department, Radboudumc, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

aimThe aim of this work was to evaluate whether the therapeutic quality of exercise prehabilitation programmes is associated with their effectiveness to preoperatively improve aerobic fitness and reduce postoperative complications and length of hospital stay in patients scheduled for colorectal surgery.

methodThree electronic databases (PubMed, Embase and CINAHL) were systematically searched (up to October 2023) for randomized controlled trials that investigated the effects of prehabilitation before colorectal resection. Methodological quality and therapeutic quality were assessed using, respectively, the Cochrane Risk of Bias 2 tool and the i-CONTENT tool. Studies were divided into four subgroups based on the estimated risk of bias and risk of ineffectiveness.

resultsFourteen studies were included, comprising 986 patients. Meta-analysis showed that, in general, prehabilitation improved preoperative aerobic fitness but did not improve postoperative outcomes. No differences were found between the four subgroups; however, only one study (7%) had a low risk of bias in combination with a low risk of ineffectiveness.

conclusionThe fact that only one study had a low risk of bias in combination with a low risk of ineffectiveness precluded us from establishing an association between therapeutic quality and the effectiveness of prehabilitation on postoperative outcomes. The quality of future prehabilitation research with exercise interventions should be improved by using an assessment tool during the design phase of prehabilitation programmes.

Indexed as

Colorectal SurgeryDigestive System Surgical ProceduresPostoperative ComplicationsPreoperative CarePreoperative ExerciseAgedFemaleHumansLength of StayMaleMiddle AgedRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicTreatment Outcomecolorectal cancerexercise programmepreoperative carepreoperative trainingpresurgical

Identifiers

PMID39934951
PMCPMC11814359

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.