Key result
Preoperative inspiratory muscle training cuts postoperative pulmonary complications, while broader prehabilitation shows mixed results.
Why the study?
Patients awaiting elective cardiac surgery, especially those with HF, may have reduced functional or respiratory reserve that prehabilitation aims to address before surgery.
Does prehabilitation (respiratory training, exercise, and multimodal interventions) improve functional capacity and reduce postoperative complications in adults with heart failure undergoing elective cardiac surgery?
Does prehabilitation (respiratory training, exercise, and multimodal interventions) improve functional capacity and reduce postoperative complications in adults with heart failure undergoing elective cardiac surgery?
In clinically stable patients with heart failure awaiting elective cardiac surgery, inspiratory muscle training reduces postoperative pulmonary complications and exercise improves functional capacity, though evidence for broader postoperative outcomes remains mixed.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
May support prioritizing inspiratory muscle training in prehabilitation; leaves open optimal protocols and HF-specific efficacy.
Patients awaiting elective cardiac surgery may have reduced functional or respiratory reserve, particularly when heart failure (HF) is present. Prehabilitation aims to address modifiable deficits before surgery. This narrative review examines respiratory training, exercise, and multimodal interventions in adults undergoing elective cardiac surgery, with particular attention to patients with HF. Inspiratory muscle training has the clearest evidence for reducing postoperative pulmonary complications. Exercise programs can improve selected measures of functional capacity, but their effects on postoperative recovery and complications are inconsistent. Findings for clinically important outcomes after multimodal prehabilitation are mixed. Differences in interventions, patient populations, and outcome definitions limit interpretation. In clinically stable patients with HF, targeted prehabilitation may complement medical optimization. Dedicated studies are needed to determine whether this promising approach can reduce postoperative HF events or improve survival.
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Górecki et al. (2026) conducted a review in Adults with heart failure undergoing elective cardiac surgery. Prehabilitation (respiratory training, exercise, and multimodal interventions) was evaluated on Postoperative pulmonary complications, functional capacity, and postoperative recovery/complications. Inspiratory muscle training reduces postoperative pulmonary complications before elective cardiac surgery, whereas exercise and multimodal prehabilitation yield inconsistent or mixed clinical results.
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