Prehabilitation prior to kidney transplantation: Results from a pilot study

Abstract

Prehabilitation is the process of enhancing preoperative functional capacity to improve tolerance for the upcoming stressor; it was associated with improved postoperative outcomes in a handful of studies, but never evaluated in transplantation. Kidney transplant (KT) candidates may be uniquely suited for prehabilitation because they experience a profound loss of functional capacity while waiting years on dialysis. To better understand the feasibility and effectiveness of prehabilitation in KT, we conducted a pilot study of center-based prehabilitation for candidates; this intervention consisted of weekly physical therapy sessions at an outpatient center with at-home exercises. We enrolled 24 participants; 18 participated in prehabilitation (75% of enrolled; 17% of eligible). 61% were male, 72% were African American, and mean age = 52 (SD = 12.9); 71% of participants had lower-extremity impairment, and 31% were frail. By 2 months of prehabilitation, participants improved their physical activity by 64% (P = 0.004) based on accelerometry. Participants reported high satisfaction. Among 5 prehabilitation participants who received KT during the study, length of stay was shorter than for age-, sex-, and race-matched control (5 vs 10 days; RR = 0.69; 95% CI:0.50-0.94; P = 0.02). These pilot study findings suggest that prehabilitation is feasible in pretransplant patients and may potentially be a strategy to improve post-KT outcomes.

Keywords: kidney transplantation; prehabilitation.

Conflict of interest statement

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

The authors of this manuscript declare no conflict of interest.

© 2018 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Figures

Figure 1.

Mean Physical Activity Count Per Hour of KT Candidates By Month of Prehabilitation Intervention (n=15). There was a non-significant 6% change (p=0.99) in the mean daily activity count by 1 month of prehabilitation and a 61% improvement (p=0.001) in the mean daily activity count by 2 months of prehabilitation.