What question did this study set out to answer?

The aim is to determine the effectiveness of various telehabilitation methods after lung cancer surgery.

May 31, 2026BMJ Open0 citationsOpen Access

Effects of different telehabilitation methods on postoperative pulmonary rehabilitation of patients with lung cancer: a systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials protocol

Key Points

The aim is to determine the effectiveness of various telehabilitation methods after lung cancer surgery.
Systematic review of randomised controlled trials using six databases and two registries with inclusion criteria for lung cancer telehabilitation.
Primary outcomes include forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume (FEV1), and the 6-minute walking test.
Risk of bias will be assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias V.2 tool.
Expected to establish which telehabilitation methods improve lung function outcomes post-surgery.
Assess the impact of telehabilitation on intervention completion rates and quality of life scores.
Investigate the incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications and adverse events.

Abstract

Introduction Postoperative pulmonary complications affect approximately 40% of individuals undergoing lung cancer surgery. A number of clinical trials and meta-analyses have shown that postoperative telehabilitation may reduce the incidence of postoperative adverse events while reducing transport time and outpatient costs and improving patient motivation. However, optimal telehabilitation strategies remain undetermined. The primary objective of this protocol is thus to compare the effects of different telehabilitation methods used after pulmonary surgery in patients with lung cancer by conducting a network meta-analysis. Methods and analysis Two researchers will independently search six databases (PubMed, the Cochrane Library, Embase, Web of Science, Medline and the Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI)) and two clinical trial registries (ClinicalTrials.gov and WHO ICTRP). The time range will be from database inception to March 2026. EndNote X V.21 will be used for screening based on predetermined inclusion criteria. All Chinese and English randomised controlled trials examining the effects of telehabilitation on lung function after lung cancer surgery will be included. The primary outcome measures will be forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume over 1 s (FEV 1 ), FEV 1 /FVC and 6 min walking test. The secondary outcome measures will be the incidence of adverse events, intervention completion rate, incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications and European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30) score. Risk of bias assessment will be performed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias V.2 (RoB V.2.0) tool, while certainty of evidence will be evaluated using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment and Evaluation (GRADE). Stata V.18.0 (StataCorp, College Station, Texas) and R (V.4.1.2) will be used to conduct traditional pairwise meta-analysis and network meta-analysis. Ethics and dissemination Ethical approval is not required for this study. The results will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal or conference. PROSPERO registration number CRD420251275899.

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