ISSN : 1301-5680
e-ISSN : 2149-8156
Turkish Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery     
Is physiotherapy effective on the occurrence of postoperative pulmonary complications in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery? A randomised controlled trial
Yasemin Çırak1, Zehra Karahan2, Gül Deniz Yılmaz Yelvar3, İlknur Erden2, Ufuk Demirkılıç2
1Departments of Cardiopulmonary Physiotherapy, School of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation, Turgut Özal University, Ankara, Turkey
2Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Gülhane Military Medical Academy, Ankara, Turkey
3Departments of Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy, School of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation, Turgut Özal University, Ankara, Turkey
DOI : 10.5606/tgkdc.dergisi.2015.11704
Background: This study aims to investigate the efficacy of a specific physiotherapy protocol on the occurrence of postoperative pulmonary complications, length of intensive care unit (ICU) and hospital stay, and duration of intibutation in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery with variable postoperative pulmonary complication risk profiles.

Methods: Between June 2012 and October 2014, a total of 170 patients (116 males, 54 females; mean age 57.0±10.0 years; range 30 to 79 years) who underwent CABG surgery in our clinic were divided into two risk groups on the basis of their risk scores (low-risk ≤1 point or high-risk ≥2 point). A physiotherapy protocol consisted of four phases was performed from baseline until discharge. The incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications was scored by a blinded investigator on an ordinal scale of 1 to 4. Functional capacity was evaluated using a six-minute walk test (6MWT). Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) for anxiety and depression and Short Form-36 for quality of life were applied.

Results: The incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications, length of stay in the hospital and ICU and duration of intubation were not statistically significant in high-risk group, compared to the low-risk group (p>0.05). There was a significant decrease in 6MWA distance from baseline to discharge for all patients; however, the decline was lower in high-risk group. There was no statistically significant differences in the quality of life and depression scores between the groups after treatment (p>0.05). We observed statistically significant differences in anxiety scores between the groups after treatment (p<0.05).

Conclusion: This randomized, controlled trial demonstrated that physiotherapy might help patients in high-risk group for faster recovery after CABG. Physiotherapy is more critical in high-risk patients to obtain similar results as in low-risk group.

Keywords : Coronary artery bypass graft surgery; physiotherapy; postoperative pulmonary complication
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