Accelerometer-Measured Inpatient Physical Activity and Associated Outcomes After Major Abdominal Surgery: Systematic Review

Background: It remains unclear how inpatient physical activity after major abdominal surgery affects outcomes. Accelerometer research may provide further evidence for postoperative mobilization.

Objective: We aimed to summarize the current literature evaluating the impact of accelerometer-measured postoperative physical activity on outcomes after major abdominal surgery.

Methods: We searched PubMed and Google Scholar in October 2021 to conduct a systematic review. Studies were included if they used accelerometers to measure inpatient physical behaviors immediately after major abdominal surgery, defined as any nonobstetric procedures performed under general anesthesia requiring hospital admission. Studies were eligible only if they evaluated the effects of physical activity on postoperative outcomes such as postoperative complications, return of gastrointestinal function, hospital length of stay, discharge destination, and readmissions. We excluded studies involving participants aged <18 years. Risk of bias was assessed using the risk-of-bias assessment tool for nonrandomized studies (RoBANS) for observational studies and the revised Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomized trials (RoB 2) for randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Findings were summarized by qualitative synthesis.

Results: We identified 15 studies. Risk of bias was high in 14 (93%) of the 15 studies. Most of the studies (11/15, 73%) had sample sizes of <100. Of the 15 studies, 13 (87%) included the general surgery population, 1 (7%) was a study of patients who had undergone gynecologic surgery, and 1 (7%) included a mixed (abdominal, thoracic, gynecologic, and orthopedic) surgical population. Of the 15 studies, 12 (80%) used consumer-grade accelerometers to measure physical behaviors. Step count was the most commonly reported physical activity outcome (12/15, 80%). In the observational studies (9/15, 60%), increased physical activity during the immediate postoperative period was associated with earlier return of gastrointestinal function, fewer surgical and pulmonary complications, shorter hospital length of stay, and fewer readmissions. In the RCTs (6/15, 40%), only 1 (17%) of the 6 studies demonstrated improved outcomes (shorter time to flatus and hospital length of stay) when a mobility-enhancing intervention was compared with usual care. Notably, mobility-enhancing interventions used in 4 (67%) of the 6 RCTs did not result in increased postoperative physical activity.

Conclusions: Although observational studies show strong associations between postoperative physical activity and outcomes after major abdominal surgery, RCTs have not proved the benefit of mobility-enhancing interventions compared with usual care. The overall risk of bias was high, and we could not synthesize specific recommendations for postoperative mobilization. Future research would benefit from improving study design, increasing methodologic rigor, and measuring physical behaviors beyond step counts to understand the impact of postoperative mobilization on outcomes after major abdominal surgery.