Prehabilitation and preparation for surgery: has the digital revolution arrived?

James Durrand, J. Moore, Gerard Danjoux*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalEditorialpeer-review

12 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly disrupted global elective surgical care [1]. There are presently 5 million people in the UK on an elective surgical waiting list, a number expected to grow in the coming months [2]. The capacity of peri-operative services is finite. Increasing this to address the backlog is a substantial challenge and expected to be the rate-limiting step [3]. Restoration of elective surgical pathways will be complicated by the need to mitigate the risk of peri-operative COVID-19 infection and its significant implications for patients and staff [4]. This situation has effectively created a generation of patients waiting longer for treatment, with reduced pre-operative support driving increased levels of patient anxiety and reduced ‘preparedness’ for surgery. Given the major continued burden on front-line NHS staff [5], a co-ordinated national response comprising innovative solutions is required to address this problem.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)635-639
Number of pages5
JournalAnaesthesia
Volume77
Issue number6
Early online date18 Nov 2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jun 2022

Keywords

  • peri-operative medicine
  • prehabilitation
  • preparing for surgery

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