Dr John Woodfield, colorectal surgeon at Dunedin Hospital and senior lecturer at the University of Otago, found that people who did repeated high-intensity aerobic intervals at about 80 per cent of their maximum heart rate and then actively recovered experienced lower peak oxygen consumption. improved, and found that oxygen consumption after oxygen intake decreased. Reduce surgical complications and hospital stay.
His findings came after completing 11 separate studies and a comprehensive analysis of 581 patients, which found a positive effect of HIIT before surgery when compared to standard care.
Dr. Woodfield said HIIT has a direct impact on cardiorespiratory fitness, and strengthening before surgery can improve physical function and promote postoperative outcomes.
“With preoperative HIIT programs, surgical patients recover faster and have fewer complications.
“Typically, patients are notified about four weeks before surgery.
“Pre-rehabilitation with approximately 12 HIIT sessions can improve a patient’s base fitness level by 10% during this period.
“We also demonstrated that this is true for frail patients with comorbidities,” he said.
If the preoperative benefits of HIIT were available as a tablet, “universal adoption” would occur.
However, there have been challenges in getting patients to adopt exercise programs that increase their heart rate before surgery.
“Problems include limited time between diagnosis and surgery and institutional challenges where hospitals do not offer or consistently promote rehabilitation programs.
“For patients, there are challenges of time, accessibility and motivation.
“If possible, HIIT should be included in all rehabilitation programs before major surgery,” he said.
Dr Woodfield’s research will be presented at the Royal Australian College of Surgeons’ annual scientific conference in Christchurch this week.
The conference is the largest multidisciplinary surgical conference held in the southern hemisphere, bringing together top surgical and medical intellectuals from New Zealand, Australia and around the world.
