Functional Status in Post-CABG Patients Following Physiotherapy- A Retrospective Analysis

Background of objectives: Following CABG, various pulmonary complications may result with significant affection of functional recovery of the patients. This adds into the cost of treatment, prolonged length of stay in the hospital, increased morbidity and mortality . Therefore present study was undertaken to determine the efficacy of physiotherapy treatment in functional recovery of the patients following Coronary artery bypass grafting surgery.

Materials & Method: This was a retrospective study, total 65 participants' data were considered for the analysis, which was retrieved from the medical record department of Shree Krishna hospital. The demographic status, physiotherapy treatment program, functional recovery, average walking distance and length of stay in the hospital were analyzed.

Results: In the present study, the medical record of 65 subjects (84% male and 16% female) were analyzed and average of walking distance, flight of stairs and length of stay was recorded. All the subjects were given preoperative physiotherapy which included chest physiotherapy in the form of deep breathing exercise, thoracic mobility exercise, forced expiratory technique and incentive spirometry as well as post operative physiotherapy regimen taught. Out of 65 subjects, 90% (n=58) had no post operative complications and 10% (n=7) had eventful CABG with associated complications like cardiac arrhythmias in 3 patients, uncontrolled diabetes in 1 patients, long term ionotropic support in 2 patients and pleural effusion in 1 patient etc. The average length of stay of the subjects in hospital following uncomplicated CABG was 6 PODs and 90% of the subjects were discharged by 6th POD.

Conclusion: It had been concluded that all the subjects with uneventful CABG (80%) following physiotherapy became functionally independent on 6th POD, whereas subjects with eventful CABG (10%) on 11th POD.