Journal Review in Thoracic Surgery: The Prehab Prescription- Evidence, Implementation, and Advocacy

Behind The Knife: The Surgery Podcast

Science, Health & Fitness, Medicine, Education

4.8 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 21 August 2025

⏱️ 22 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What if we could train patients for surgery the way elite athletes train for game day?

In this episode, we review the science, shed light on the disparities, explore real-world challenges, and honor the behind-the-scenes workers that facilitate prehabilitation in thoracic cancer care. Join attending surgeon Doctor Jinny Ha, 3rd year general surgery resident Doctor Kyla Rakoczy, and Community Outreach Patient Navigator, Leslie Ricks Chandler, in discussing prehabilitation in thoracic surgery.

Hosts:
Dr. Jinny Ha, MD, MHS, assistant professor of surgery and thoracic surgeon at Johns Hopkins
Leslie Ricks Chandler, Community Outreach Program Advisor Johns Hopkins Thoracic Surgery
Dr. Kyla Rakoczy, MD, 3rd year general surgery resident at Johns Hopkins LinkedIn: Kyla Rakoczy

Learning objectives:
After listening to this episode, participants will be able to:

Define the role and components of prehabilitation in the context of thoracic oncology and ERAS/ESTS guidelines.
Interpret key findings from recent clinical trials on prehabilitation, including outcomes related to functional capacity and readmission rates.
Identify socioeconomic and structural barriers to prehabilitation participation and discuss strategies to improve equitable access to these interventions.
Apply evidence-based criteria to assess which patients may benefit most from preoperative nutrition and exercise interventions.
Recognize the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration—including social work and patient navigation—in optimizing surgical readiness and long-term outcomes.

References:

Please visit https://behindtheknife.org to access other high-yield surgical education podcasts, videos and more.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Behind the Knife, The Surgery Podcast. Let's be real. Prepping for the
0:26.7	cardiothoracic boards can feel like drinking from Firo's. That's why we built the Behind
0:31.1	the Knife Cardiothoracic board review to make the hard stuff easier. It has over 70 high-yield
0:36.3	scenarios covering everything from lung cancer to ECMO,
0:39.3	plus high-yield audio commentary from cardiothoracic faculty who've been in your shoes.
0:44.1	Whether you're deep into fellowship or reviewing before the exam,
0:47.3	this is the one-stop resource you need, all on the Behind the Knife app.
0:51.1	Group discounts are available, enjoy the episode, and dominate the day. Hey, everyone, and welcome to Behind the Knife app. Group discounts are available. Enjoy the episode and dominate the day.
0:55.0	Hey everyone and welcome to Behind the Knife. I'm Kyla Rikosi, a PGI 3 general surgery resident at Johns Hopkins,
1:04.0	introducing your new thoracic surgery subspecialty team. I'm thrilled to be here with one of my mentors and someone I personally
1:12.3	admire, Dr. Ginny Haugh, thoracic surgeon here at Hopkins. Thanks, Kyla, for inviting me to
1:18.9	join you on this episode. Just to start, I'm Jenny Ha. I've been at faculty at Hopkins since
1:24.5	2018 after graduating from my fellowship here at Hopkins. Clinically, I
1:30.2	largely focus on thoracic oncology and robotic thoracic surgery. Outside of the hospital, I love
1:36.4	spending time with my family, being outside gardening and cooking. It's my way of decompressing.
1:42.5	Thanks for being here today. Today we're tackling the topic
1:45.9	of prehabilitation before thoracic surgery. All right, Dr. Haugh, let's just start simple.
1:51.7	How would you define prehab and why is it something we should all be paying attention to?
1:57.3	Prehab is the optimization of a patient's physical status through nutrition and exercise interventions
2:04.2	to improve functional capacity before major surgery. Both ERAS and a few of the other surgical
2:10.4	societies such as the European Society of Thoracic Surgeons now include this in their recommendations.
2:16.6	It usually involves a combination of nutritional,
	...

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