Combining prehabilitation with enhanced recovery programs in gynecological surgery

Prehabilitation is a multimodal approach to preoperative care based on physical exercise, dietary/nutritional interventions, smoking and alcohol cessation, and psychological care. The goal is to reduce stress and apprehension, encourage general well-being, and thus optimize the patient's state of health before surgery. Prehabilitation encompasses all the actions undertaken between the diagnosis of the disease and the initiation of surgery to reduce the morbidity attributable to the latter. Although there are few literature data on prehabilitation in gynecological surgery, the management of moderate-to-severe undernutrition prior to gynecological oncology surgery reduces the risk of postoperative complications and increases the overall survival rate.