A Seven-day Preoperative Exercise Training Program in People With Abdominal Cancer

Background: Preoperative exercise training programs of long duration, that delay surgical resection of tumors, may not be feasible in the treatment of malignant disease. In people with lung cancer, improvements in postoperative outcomes have been demonstrated with short duration (i.e. up to seven days) preoperative exercise training programs. However, the feasibility of short duration preoperative exercise training programs in people with abdominal cancer has not been investigated. Objective: In people undergoing surgical resection for abdominal cancer, to investigate the effects of a seven-day preoperative exercise training program on preoperative exercise capacity and peripheral muscle strength as well as adherence rates, adverse events and subjective perception of satisfaction and discomfort of participants to the preoperative treatment. Design: A feasibility study. Setting: Participants will be recruited from the surgical ward of a public hospital in São Paulo, Brazil. Participants: 22 inpatients over 18 years old, awaiting surgical resection for colorectal, esophageal, gastric, hepatic or pancreatic cancer. Intervention: The participants will undergo a seven-day, inpatient preoperative exercise training program that includes aerobic and resistance exercises. Measurements: preoperative exercise capacity, peripheral muscle strength, adherence rates (consent rates, recruitment rates, completion rates and adherence), adverse events, the reasons for ineligibility and the reasons for declining participation and the subjective perception of satisfaction and discomfort of the participants to the preoperative treatment.