Quantifying postoperative recovery using wearable activity monitors following abdominal wall surgery: The AbTech trial.

PURPOSE: This work aimed to investigate the validity of wearable activity monitors (WAMs) as an objective tool to measure the return toward normal functional mobility following abdominal wall surgery. This was achieved by quantifying and comparing pre- and postoperative physical activity (PA).

METHODS: A multicenter, prospective, observational cohort study was designed. Patients undergoing abdominal wall surgery were assessed for eligibility and consent for study participation was obtained. Participants were asked to wear a WAM (AX3, Axivity) on the wrist of their dominant hand at least 48 hours pre-operatively, for up to 2 weeks postop, and again after 6 months postop for 48 hours.

RESULTS: A cohort of 20 patients were recruited in this validation study with a mean age of 47.3 ± 13.0 years. Postoperation, the percentage median PA (±IQR) dropped to 32.6% (20.1), whereas on day 14, PA had reached 64.6% (22.7) of the preoperative value providing construct validity. Activity levels at >6 months postop increased by 16.4% on an average when compared to baseline preoperative PA (p = 0.046).

CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that WAMs are valid markers of postoperative recovery following abdominal wall surgery. This was achieved by quantifying the reduction in PA postoperation, which has not been previously shown. In addition, this study suggests that abdominal wall surgery may improve the patient's quality of life via increased functional mobility at 6 months postop. In the future, this technology could be used to identify the patient and surgical factors that are predictors of outcome following abdominal wall surgery.