MULTIMODAL PREHABILITATION MAY IMPROVE SURGICAL OUTCOMES FOR PATIENTS WITH INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE
Authors: Wernick Rebecca , Issokson Kelly , Banty Andrea , Castelan Viankail Cedillo , Gwarnicki Colleen , Solomon Theodore , Martirosyan Lilly , Roberts Pamela , Murakami Mae , Wise Andrea , Hampton Melissa , Zaghiyan Karen , Nasseri Yosef , Fleshner Phil , Rabizadeh Shervin , Melmed Gil 
Published: January 2024

BACKGROUND

Surgery is associated with loss of lean body mass and physical deconditioning, which can delay healing and lead to complications. Multimodal prehabilitation (PH) with nutrition optimization and physical therapy improves outcomes after cancer surgery. However, the effects of prehabilitation for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) surgery are not established. We aimed to assess surgical outcomes among IBD patients exposed to prehabilitation relative to no prehabilitation.

METHODS

We conducted a case-controlled study of the impact of prehabilitation in patients with IBD who underwent major abdominal surgery for Crohn’s disease (CD) or ulcerative colitis (UC) between May 1st, 2022 and June 6th, 2023 at a tertiary care center. Cases were defined as those who participated in a multimodal PH program that included nutrition counseling (weight optimization, preoperative carbohydrate loading and perioperative immunonutrition), medication management, physical therapy, and psychosocial evaluation beginning 4 weeks prior to surgery; controls received standard of care (SOC) written preoperative surgical instructions without PH. We assessed postoperative complications (defined by the comprehensive complications index (CCI)), severe complications (CCI&gt;20), reoperation rate, 30-day readmission, post operative length of stay (LOS) and post-operative opioid use (defined by daily morphine milligram equivalents (MME)). Statistical tests included linear and logistic regression, Mann-Whitney U test, Chi-Square test, and Fisher’s exact test, as appropriate.

RESULTS

A total of 68 patients were identified, including 20 PH (cases) and 48 SOC (controls). Among PH, 75% had CD with the remainder UC; surgeries included ileocecal resection (45%), colectomy with ileostomy (25%), ileal pouch-anal anastomosis (25%), and small bowel resection (5%). Among SOC, 31% had CD with the remainder UC, and surgeries included colectomy with ileostomy (60%), stage 2 IPAA (29%), and small bowel (6%) or ileal (4%) resections. Age, sex, race, and ethnicity was similar between groups. Overall and severe complication rates were similar between PH and SOC (mean CCI scores 13.42 PH vs 11.25 SOC (p = 0.58), and CCI &gt; 20 in 40% PH patients vs 29% SOC (p = 0.56)). Median post-operative LOS was shorter among PH vs SOC (3.0 vs 3.5d, p=0.02), and median post-operative opioid use was lower among PH vs SOC (19.5 vs 20.8 MME, p = 0.04). Readmission within 30 days occurred in 30% of PH and 17% of SOC (p = 0.22). Reoperation within 30 days occurred in 5% of PH and 17% of SOC (p = 0.37). CONCLUSION: Multimodal prehabilitation may improve select surgical outcomes in IBD, including length of stay and opioid use after surgery. Larger, prospective, controlled studies may help to further clarify the impact of PH on surgical outcomes for IBD, including complications, readmissions, and functional status.

Table 1. Patient Characteristics and Outcomes by Prehabilitation Exposure Status