Preoperative High Intensity Interval Training: The PHIIT Trial

Colorectal and thoracic surgical patients are susceptible to poor postoperative outcome including complications, mortality and increased length of stay. Preoperative physical fitness is protective against poor postoperative outcome in intra-abdominal and thoracic surgery. The current colorectal/thoracic pathway from diagnosis to surgery is about 2 weeks and therefore interventions of longer duration are not feasible. Clinicians may be presented with a difficult choice in delaying surgery to perform prehab or cancel the pre-op intervention. To create greater improvements in aerobic fitness, participants are required to exercise at high levels of VO2peak (e.g. ≥80% VO2peak). High intensity interval training (HIIT) requires participants to exercise at high levels of VO2peak (≥80% VO2peak) for short periods (e.g. 15 seconds) followed by a recovery (active or passive) and typically continue this pattern for 30 minutes or until exhaustion. HIIT programmes are safe and a recent meta-analysis noted that HIIT produced a more pronounced incremental gain in participants' mean VO2peak when compared with continuous moderate intensity exercise (+1.78mL/kg/min, 95% CI: 0.45-3.11). HITT has not been investigated as a preoperative intervention to either optimize fitness prior to surgery or reduce post-surgical complications. Preoperative HIIT is an intense intervention which will require significant participant adherence. The safety, cost and clinical application of such a programme needs to be performed. This feasibility study aims to assess the ability of HIIT to improve aerobic fitness two weeks prior to surgery and determine its feasibility.

Sex

All

Minimum age

18 Years

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Patients scheduled for colorectal or thoracic surgery
2. Able to give informed consent
3. Ability to understand English

Exclusion Criteria:

* Acute myocardial infarction
* Unstable angina
* Uncontrolled arrhythmias causing symptoms or hemodynamic compromise
* Syncope
* Active endocarditis
* Symptomatic severe aortic stenosis
* Uncontrolled heart failure
* Acute pulmonary embolous or pulmonary infarction
* Thrombosis of lower extremities
* Suspected dissecting aneurysm
* Uncontrolled asthma
* Pulmonary edema
* Room air desaturation at rest ≤85%
* Respiratory failure
* Acute noncardiopulmonary disorder that may affect exercise performance or be aggravated by exercise (i.e. infection, renal failure, thyrotoxicosis)
* Cognitive impairment leading to inability to cooperate
* Left main coronary stenosis or equivalent
* Moderate stenotic valvular heart disease
* Severe untreated arterial hypertension at rest (\>200 mmHg systolic, \>120 mmHg diastolic)
* Tachyarrhythmias or bradyarrhythmias
* High-degree atrioventricular block
* Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
* Significant pulmonary hypertension
* Pregnancy
* Electrolyte abnormalities
* Orthopaedic impairment that compromises exercise performance
* Individuals with pacemakers or defibrillators
* Epilepsy
* Past history or MRI evidence of brain damage, including significant trauma, stroke, transient ischaemic attack (TIA), hydrocephalus, mental retardation, or serious neurological disorder
* Non resectable disease
* Emergency surgery