Related Experiment Videos
Describing Successful Multimodal Prehabilitation Before Colorectal Cancer Resection: A Recursive Partitioning
Janius Tsang1, Chelsia Gillis1,2,3, Nandini Dendukuri4
1From the Department of Anesthesia.
Anesthesia and Analgesia
|August 10, 2026
Summary
Multimodal prehabilitation benefits colorectal cancer patients by identifying subgroups with reduced postoperative complications. Specific baseline and post-prehabilitation characteristics predict better outcomes, guiding personalized recovery strategies.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Surgical Outcomes
- Rehabilitation Medicine
Background:
- Multimodal prehabilitation improves outcomes after colorectal cancer surgery.
- Identifying patient subgroups that benefit most from prehabilitation is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify and describe patient subgroups with differing 30-day postoperative complication rates after colorectal cancer resection.
- To define these subgroups using combinations of baseline and post-prehabilitation characteristics.
Main Methods:
- Recursive partitioning (classification tree) models were used.
- Analyzed data from six multimodal prehabilitation trials.
- Identified subgroups based on baseline and post-prehabilitation characteristics.
Main Results:
- Subgroups with low complication rates had specific six-minute walk distance (6MWD) and physical functioning scores.
- A combination of SF-36 PFI, 6MWD, and low malnutrition risk identified a low-complication subgroup (6.2%).
- Post-prehabilitation, achieving a 6MWD ≥487 m was associated with lower complications (22.2%); longer prehabilitation duration (>41 days) mitigated higher rates.
Conclusions:
- Clinically interpretable subgroups with varying postoperative complication rates were identified.
- These subgroup profiles offer hypothesis-generating insights into multimodal prehabilitation response patterns.