Early Rehabilitation Provided by Specialized Physical Therapist in an Emergency Center Reduces Pulmonary Complications in Patients with Sepsis: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Early rehabilitation methods, including postural changes and respiratory physical therapies, have been shown to prevent pulmonary complications; however, strategies to prevent pulmonary complications in sepsis patients remain poorly defined. This clinical study was to evaluated if early rehabilitation provided by specialized physical therapist in an emergency center could reduce respiratory complications in sepsis patients. We evaluated sepsis patients for demographic characteristics, the number of days until rehabilitation, and the incidence of pulmonary complications. Kaplan-Meier curves were constructed to analyze the incidence of pulmonary complications for the study sample stratified by specialized physical therapists. Cox regression analysis examined the relationship between early rehabilitation provided by specialized physical therapists and the incidence of pulmonary complications. The number of days until rehabilitation was significantly shortened after assigning a specialized physical therapist. Assigning specialized physical therapist was significantly associated with pulmonary complications for sepsis patients and, in the multivariable model, specialized physical therapists (hazard ratio=0.34; 95%confidence interval=0.16-0.74; p=0.006) and the number of days until rehabilitation (hazard ratio=1.12; 95% confidence interval=1.08-1.19; p=0.047) were significantly associated with pulmonary complications. Early rehabilitation decreased the incidence of pulmonary complications in sepsis patients. [University Hospital Medical Information Network Clinical Trials Registry, number UMIN000039793 (2020/3/12)].