Physical Activity in Relation to Surgical Procedures

April 22, 2026 updated by: Eva Haglind, MD, PhD, professor, Sahlgrenska University Hospital

Physsurg - a Controlled Randomized Trial on the Effect of Physical Activity in Relation to Outcome After Surgery

This study will compare the outcome after surgery between a group of patients that receives instructions for prehabilitation training and one group that received standard treatment.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

The aim of this study is to investigate whether a training program with intensified physical activity prior to and after a surgical procedure reduces the surgical-related postoperative recovery time, hospital stay, sick leave and complication rate.

A secondary aim is to investigate the effect of a training program with pre- and post- operative PA on the rate of resumption of QoL and normal physical function.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

761

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Sweden
      • Gothenburg, Sweden, 416 85
        • Sahlgrenska University Hospital/Östra
      • Skövde, Sweden
        • Dept. of Surgery, Skaraborgs Sjukhus

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Diagnosed colorectal cancer and a planned surgical procedure

Exclusion Criteria:

  • HIPEC surgery, not able to give informed consent or understand the intervention

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Pre and postoperative exercise

The intervention is prehabilitation preoperatively and physical training postoperatively. During the hospital stay both groups will be treated in the same manner.

Preoperative intervention:

One half hour of exercise daily added to the existing daily exercise routine. The level of exercise should produce shortness of breath but the patient should be able to talk without much effort.

Inspiratory muscle training. Thirty breaths x two twice daily. Postoperative intervention is mainly the same as preoperatively.
Other: Physical activity
The intervention will take place both pre- and postoperatively. During the hospital stay both groups will be treated in the same manner.
No Intervention: Control
Standard treatment with one exception, patients will fill in a physical activity diary

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Recovery measured as physical recovery measured in questionnaire
Time Frame: 4-6 weeks
4-6 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Psychological recovery measured in a questionnaire, patient reported
Time Frame: 4-6 weeks and 1 year post-operatively
Recovery
4-6 weeks and 1 year post-operatively
Recovery measured as time back to work
Time Frame: 1 year
Recovery
1 year
Complications according to Clavien-Dindo
Time Frame: within 90 days
Postoperative complications
within 90 days
QoL measured using SF-36
Time Frame: 4-6 weeks and 1 year
QoL according to SF-36
4-6 weeks and 1 year
QoL measured using EQ-5D
Time Frame: 4-6 weeks and 1 year
QoL according to EQ-5D
4-6 weeks and 1 year
QoL measured using a specifically developed instrument for this study
Time Frame: 4-6 weeks and 1 year
Health related QoL
4-6 weeks and 1 year
Mortality
Time Frame: 3 and 5 years
Long term mortality
3 and 5 years
Re-admissions
Time Frame: 1 year
Hospital re-admissions
1 year
Reoperations
Time Frame: 1 year
Reoperations
1 year
Total time of hospital stay
Time Frame: 1 year
Length of stay
1 year
IGF-1 and IGFBP-3
Time Frame: 4 weeks postopeartively
Lab values
4 weeks postopeartively
Postoperative pain measured with Brief Pain Inventory-Short form
Time Frame: 4 weeks
Pain measured by BPI-S
4 weeks
Postoperative pain measured with Brief Pain Inventory-Short form
Time Frame: 12 months
Pain measured by BPI-S
12 months
Health economic analysis
Time Frame: 4 weeks
Health economic analysis modified according to results of primary outcome
4 weeks
Health economic analysis
Time Frame: 12 months
Health economic analysis modified according to results of primary outcome
12 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sahlgrenska University Hospital

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Eva Haglind, M.D., Ph.D., SSORG

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

January 1, 2015

Primary Completion (Actual)

May 31, 2020

Study Completion (Actual)

December 31, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

November 17, 2014

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 20, 2014

First Posted (Estimated)

November 24, 2014

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 27, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 22, 2026

Last Verified

April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • Physsurg C - the RCT

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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