Recovering from surgery can be difficult for many patients. Some people heal quickly and return home within a few days, while others experience pain, weakness, infections, or complications that slow recovery.
Doctors and nurses have long encouraged patients to get out of bed and start walking as soon as possible after surgery, but until now, researchers have not had clear evidence showing exactly how important walking really is during recovery.
A new study suggests that something as simple as counting daily steps may provide one of the best ways to predict how well a patient will recover after surgery.
Researchers analyzing data from the National Institutes of Health’s All of Us Research Program found that patients who walked more after surgery had shorter hospital stays, fewer complications, and lower chances of returning to the hospital later.
The study was published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. Researchers say the findings could change how doctors monitor patients after surgery and may help hospitals improve recovery programs.
The research team studied 1,965 adults who underwent inpatient surgery. These patients used wearable devices that tracked their physical activity, such as daily step counts. The wearable data was combined with electronic medical records, allowing scientists to compare activity levels with health outcomes after surgery.
The researchers discovered a very clear pattern. For every extra 1,000 steps a patient walked each day after surgery, their recovery outcomes improved. Patients who walked more tended to leave the hospital sooner, had fewer complications, and were less likely to be readmitted to the hospital within 30 or 90 days.
Even after researchers adjusted for factors such as age, sex, and overall surgical risk, the relationship remained strong. Each additional 1,000 daily steps was linked to a 6 percent reduction in hospital length of stay.
This finding is important because hospital stays after surgery are expensive and stressful for patients. Longer stays can increase the risk of infections, blood clots, muscle weakness, and emotional stress. Helping patients recover faster and return home safely is a major goal in modern medicine.
The study also compared step counts with other commonly used recovery measurements. Researchers looked at heart rate variability, which measures changes in the time between heartbeats and is often linked to stress and physical recovery.
They also examined self-reported wellness scores, where patients rated how they felt physically and emotionally.
Surprisingly, neither heart rate variability nor self-reported wellness scores strongly predicted recovery outcomes once other factors were considered. Daily step count turned out to be the strongest and most reliable predictor.
Dr. Timothy Pawlik, senior author of the study and chair of the Department of Surgery at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, explained that doctors have traditionally relied heavily on patients describing how they feel.
However, wearable devices now allow healthcare teams to collect objective information instead of depending only on personal reports.
According to Dr. Pawlik, seeing how much a patient is moving provides a practical and useful signal about recovery progress. If a patient suddenly becomes less active, doctors may recognize problems earlier and step in more quickly with extra support.
The researchers noted that recovery and movement influence each other in complex ways. Patients who feel better naturally tend to walk more.
At the same time, walking itself may improve recovery by improving blood flow, strengthening muscles, supporting lung function, and reducing the risk of complications such as blood clots or pneumonia.
The findings also support earlier research presented at the American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress in 2023. That study found that patients who walked more than 7,500 steps per day before surgery had a 51 percent lower risk of developing complications afterward.
Together, the studies suggest that physical activity before and after surgery may play a major role in recovery.
Wearable devices such as fitness trackers and smartwatches are becoming more common around the world. These devices can continuously measure movement, heart rate, sleep, and other health information. Researchers believe this technology could become a powerful tool in future medical care.
Instead of relying only on occasional hospital checks, doctors may one day monitor recovery in real time through wearable data.
For example, patients could be given daily walking goals before and after surgery. Doctors could then track whether those goals are being reached and quickly identify patients who may need extra care.
Dr. Pawlik explained that step targets could help motivate patients while also giving healthcare teams valuable information. A patient recovering well might steadily increase their activity level each day, while someone struggling could show a sudden drop in movement.
However, researchers also emphasized that walking goals should always be individualized. Some patients may have heart disease, lung problems, joint pain, or other conditions that limit physical activity. Doctors should help patients choose safe activity levels based on their overall health and type of surgery.
The study has several strengths because it used real-world data from wearable devices instead of relying only on questionnaires or short hospital observations. The large number of patients also makes the findings more reliable.
Still, the researchers acknowledge that the study does not fully prove that walking directly causes better recovery. People who are healthier after surgery may naturally move more because they already feel better. Future studies may help determine how much walking itself actively improves healing.
Even so, the connection between step count and recovery was so strong that researchers believe walking is likely both a sign of recovery and an important part of it.
Overall, the findings highlight the growing role of wearable technology in healthcare. They also provide strong support for something doctors have encouraged for years: getting up and walking after surgery may be one of the simplest and most effective ways to support healing and reduce complications.
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Source: The Ohio State University.
