Effectiveness of prehabilitation in the postoperative period: limitations of application and impact on recovery

Introduction: Postoperative prehabilitation currently represents an innovative strategy with wide application in comprehensive surgical management, especially in patients undergoing high-risk procedures. Therefore, we proposed to analyze the effectiveness of prehabilitation in the postoperative period, as well as the limitations of its application in the surgical context and its impact on patient recovery. Methods: A literature review was conducted, allowing for an exhaustive examination of indexed databases such as SCOPUS, PUBMED, Scielo, and Latindex, obtaining a sample of 30 studies that met the eligibility criteria, organized in an Excel matrix for analysis using the CASPe method. Results: The integration of prehabilitation programs into postoperative care faces challenges that hinder their timely and efficient implementation in surgical centers, including organizational issues, resource constraints, lack of policies and specialized professionals, and infrastructure limitations. However, their incorporation has a positive impact on reducing complications, improving physical and emotional well-being, and shortening hospital stays. Conclusions: Comprehensive care in surgical centers is changing the safety paradigm, focusing on innovative interventions such as prehabilitation programs that, through interprofessional collaborative work and timely and effective management of services, enable a comprehensive approach to patients. This requires the development of standardized protocols, continuous training, as well as the design of interventions adapted under the supervision of a multi- and interdisciplinary team to each need according to the surgical specialty.