Before your Surgery: Prehabiliation

Preoperatve optimisation (prehabilitation) is essential to the success of complex hernia repair or abdominal wall reconstruction surgery.

Prehabilitation is a program that prepares patients physically and psychologically for surgery, aiming to improve functional capacity and reduce postoperative complications. It involves risk factor and lifestyle modification, exercise, nutrition, and psychological support to optimise the patient's condition before surgery, allowing them recover faster with lower risk of any problems. 

Key Components of Prehabilitation include:

• Physical Exercise:
  Structured exercise programs can improve cardiovascular, respiratory, and muscular fitness, enhancing the body's ability to handle the stress of major surgery.  Patients can also regain their previous level of function more quickly after surgery. 

• Nutrition:
  Optimizing nutritional status, including protein intake and addressing any deficiencies, can reduce complications and support healing and recovery. 

• Psychological Support:
  Addressing attitude and mindset, as well as stress and anxiety related to surgery can improve patient resilience and promote better outcomes and recovery. 

• Education:
  Providing patients with information about the surgical procedure, expected recovery timeline, and post-operative care can reduce anxiety and improve adherence to treatment plans. 

• Risk Factor Modification:
  Addressing modifiable risk factors like smoking, alcohol consumption, and poor glycemic control can improve overall health and dramatically reduce postoperative complications, especially wound infection or breakdown, deep vein thrombosis, and pneumonia.

Additional benefits of Prehabilitation include shorter hospital stays and long term benefits from healthy lifestyle changes that can improve overall health and well-being.