Figure 1.

Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) flow diagram.

^awe included articles with indicators as: pain, disability, QoL, motor abilities, body composition, and blood chemistry. ^bwe excluded: studies investigating the pre- and peri-operative effect of PE; studies investigating the effect of PE on other clinical or health outcomes; studies that monitored the long-term motor performance after cessation of treatment; feasibility studies evaluating the effect of PE; and studies dealing with physical activity (i.e. any movement of the body that requires energy expenditure without the aim of specifically recovering physical abilities).