Maarten van Egmond

57 The pre- and postoperative course of functional status 3 systematically differ for patients with and without postoperative complications, it does not imply that this also holds true for the individual patient. Therefore, an individual assessment of functional status both pre- and postoperatively is still required. A valid prediction model should be constructed based on preoperative functional status or other conventional risk factors to determine whether patients indicated for esophagectomy are at high risk for developing postoperative complications. 6 This model may then be able to differentiate which patients should be referred to a physiotherapist to obtain tailored care to improve pre- and postoperative functional status and thereby reduce the chance of a poor postoperative outcome.