The Role of Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing as a Risk Assessment Tool in Patients Undergoing Oesophagectomy: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Introduction: Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) is an objective method of assessing functional capacity to meet the metabolic demands of surgery and has been adopted as a preoperative risk-stratification tool for patients undergoing major procedures. The two main measures are the peak rate of oxygen uptake during exercise ([Formula: see text]Opeak) and anaerobic threshold (AT), the point at which anaerobic metabolism exceeds aerobic metabolism during exercise. This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluates the predictive value of CPET for patients undergoing oesophagectomy.

Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted in databases of CINAHL, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, MEDLINE, PubMed, and Scopus to identify studies that examined associations between preoperative CPET variables and postoperative outcomes following oesophagectomy. Results were presented as standardised mean difference (SMD) with 95% confidence interval.

Results: Seven studies were included in this review. Preoperative [Formula: see text]Opeak moderately correlated with cardiopulmonary complications [SMD = - 0.43; 95% confidence interval (CI) - 0.77 to - 0.09; p = 0.013; I = 80.4%], unplanned ICU admissions (SMD = - 0.34; 95% CI - 0.60 to - 0.08; p = 0.011; I = 0.0%), and 1-year survival (SMD = 0.31; 95% CI 0.02-0.61; p = 0.045; I = 0.0%). Preoperative AT values moderately correlated with unplanned ICU admissions (SMD = - 0.34; 95% CI - 0.61 to - 0.07; p = 0.014; I = 0.0%), and 1-year survival (SMD = 0.34; 95% CI 0.00-0.68; p = 0.049; I = 7.4%). Neither [Formula: see text]Opeak nor AT demonstrated prognostic value for noncardiopulmonary complications.

Conclusions: [Formula: see text]Opeak and AT, where measured by preoperative CPET testing, are inversely associated with postoperative cardiopulmonary complications, unplanned ICU admissions, and 1-year survival following oesophagectomy. This meta-analysis was not able to identify an absolute cutoff value for CPET variables to discriminate between patients of varying levels of operative risk.