Preoperative swimming exercise improves postoperative mitochondrial function and attenuates POD‐like behavioral changes by upregulating hippocampal SIRT2 expression, promoting deacetylation of PGC‐1α in hippocampal neurons, and activating the mitochondrial biogenesis pathway in T2DM rats. This evidence concerns the gene PPARGC1A and type 2 diabetes mellitus.