Recommendations on the use of prehabilitation, i.e. comprehensive preparation of the patient for surgery

Prehabilitation is a comprehensive preparation of a patient for primarily surgical treatments. Its aim is to improve the patient's general condition so as to reduce the risk of complications and ensure the fastest possible recovery to full health. The basic components of prehabilitation include: improvement of nutritional status, appropriate exercises to improve functioning, psychological support, and help in eliminating addictions. Other important aspects of prehabilitation are: increasing hemoglobin levels in patients with anemia, achieving good glycemic control in patients with diabetes, treatment or stabilization of any concurrent disorders, or specialist treatment associated with a specific procedure (endoprostheses, ostomy procedure). This article organizes and outlines the indications for prehabilitation, its scope, duration, and the method to conduct it. Experts of various specialties related to prehabilitation agree that it should be an element of surgery preparation whenever possible, especially in patients with co-existing medical conditions who have been qualified for major procedures. Prehabilitation should be carried out by interdisciplinary teams, including family physicians and various specialists in the treatment of comorbidities. Prehabilitation requires urgent systemic and reimbursement solutions.