Exercising and eating more healthily before major surgery could speed recovery and halve risk of complications, a study found.

The process is known as “prehabilitation”, a term dating back to World War II when the British Army used a similar approach to improve the general health and fitness of military recruits.

Researchers reviewed data from more than 15,000 patients in 186 previous studies to see what pre-surgery changes had the most impact.

Exercise was found to be the most important component, followed by nutritional improvements.

Study leader Dr Daniel McIsaac, an anesthesiologist and expert in perioperative innovation at the The Ottawa Hospital and University of Ottawa in Canada, said: “If you are going to be having surgery, it is always a good idea to ask about prehabilitation.

“If you are willing and able to regularly increase your activity levels and protein intake for a few weeks before surgery, you are likely to experience a noticeably shorter recovery time after surgery.”

After accounting for factors such as the type of surgery patients were having, people who exercised regularly for seven days or more before their operations were found to be 50% less likely to suffer complications. 

Nutritional support was also linked with a 38% reduced risk.

Compared with standard care, patients who exercised and accessed psychosocial support typically spent 2.44 fewer days in hospital.

The Ottawa Hospital is now leading two large clinical trials of prehabilitation regimes, with results due in the coming months.

Dr McIsaac added: “We know that people who are more physically fit tend to recover faster from surgery and suffer fewer complications.

“While many patients, with encouragement from their doctors, want to improve their fitness before surgery, patients often aren’t sure where or how to start.

“The goal of our research program is to develop a simple and effective approach to prehabilitation that can benefit the largest number of patients in meaningfully improving their surgical recovery and help patients get home faster after surgery.”