Benefit of the first phase of the cardiac rehabilitation after cardiac surgery

Introduction: Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are leading factor in global mortality and morbidity. It is the cause of 1/3 of total annual mortality, while coronary heart disease (CHD), as one of the CVD entities, is responsible for 85% of deaths worldwide. The aim of the study is to show the importance of the first phase of cardiac rehabilitation (CR) in patients who are going on cardiac surgery, as well as the impact on respiratory function, the occurrence of pulmonary complications and the length of hospitalization. Methods: A sample of 18 patients was included in the randomized observer study. First phase of CR was carried out according to a predefined protocol. We used arterial blood gases (ABG) to evaluate the respiratory function, "two-minute walk test" (2MWT) to assess the functional capacity Data taken from medical documentation are the duration of mechanical ventilation (MV), the length of stay in the ICU, occurrence of the postoperative pulmonary complications and duration of total hospitalization. Results: The test sample consisted of 12 men (60.58 ± 8.33) and 6 women (66.00 ± 6.51). The mean value of CR was 6.15 ± 3.98 days and MV 19,67±11,23 hours. There were no pulmonary complications in 61,11% patients. Using ABG, a statistically significant difference was found in PO2 after extubating and at the last day in ICU (p = 0.01). 2MWT preoperatively significantly correlated with the examined on the last day of hospitalization (r = 0.648 p-value <0.001) well as the length of postoperative hospitalization and duration of mechanical ventilation (r = 0.708 p-value <0.001). Conclusion: The study showed that first phase of cardiac rehabilitation may positively affect the improvement of functional capacity.