Key words: secondary prevention, fitness, surgery, prevalidation, physiotherapy, care transition

“BETTER BE PREPARED. Transition in perioperative physical therapy care with patients that decided to have surgery because of cancer in the pancreas or liver”

It is obvious: the fitter the patient before surgery, the better they recover after. Therefore, it is safe to consider an operation as a top sport performance. A performance that you need to start fit: well trained, well fed, well rested. Not an easy job. After all, it often concerns fragile patients at old age with a serious condition in an emotional phase of their lives. Out of understandable compassion, everyone grants such patients "no hassle", also because the time to surgery is often short, 2 to 6 weeks, and the recovery time afterwards is hard. To start training anyway requires a lot from the patient, his mantle (care) and the professionals. Physiotherapy helps. It is important to implement this method nationally and evaluate on macro cost effectiveness. After proof was delivered for this substantially different method with patients prior to major heart, lung, stomach, bowel or joint surgery, Van Beijsterveld succeeded in investigating and implementing this with patients with cancer in the pancreas and liver. Parallel to the existing proof, this study with patients and professionals again demonstrated: the fitter the better. Lower risk of complications, faster recovery and a shorter stay in the hospital.