Intensive inpatient prehabilitation (3–6 weeks in a medical and rehabilitation unit) before elective incisional hernia repair significantly decreased total postoperative complication rates versus standard prehabilitation, without demonstrating a reduction in length of hospital stay; randomized controlled trials are needed to confirm these findings.
Patients who received intensive inpatient prehabilitation (IIPP) had a significantly lower rate of total postoperative complications than those receiving standard prehabilitation after propensity weighting.
IIPP did not demonstrate a reduction in length of hospital stay.
The cohort comprised 298 patients who underwent midline incisional hernia repair over about 8 years, of whom 44 received IIPP.
The IIPP consists of a planned hospitalization of 3 to 6 weeks before surgery in a medical and rehabilitation unit, aiming to optimize patients' global clinical condition.
The authors conclude that the findings need confirmation in randomized controlled trials.
This study looked at people having planned surgery to repair incisional hernias (hernias that form at the site of an earlier surgical scar). These patients often have other health issues such as obesity, smoking, or low physical activity, which raise the risk of problems after surgery. The researchers compared 44 patients who spent 3 to 6 weeks in a hospital rehabilitation unit before surgery to improve their overall health with 254 patients who got standard preparation. After statistically adjusting for differences between the groups, about 44% of the patients in the intensive program had complications after surgery, compared with about 65% of those with standard preparation. However, the intensive program did not clearly shorten the time patients stayed in hospital after surgery. This research suggests that intensive, hospital-based preparation may lower complications after hernia repair in higher-risk patients. Because the study was observational and the intensive group was small, it cannot prove the program caused the improvement. The authors call for randomized controlled trials to confirm the results.
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Upload Your LabsAziez S, Severac F, Leroi T, Westerfeld-Ruillier D, Romain B. (2026). Preoperative intensive inpatient prehabilitation before elective incisional hernia repair: results of a prospective observational cohort study.. Hernia : the journal of hernias and abdominal wall surgery. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10029-026-03895-1