Early Exercise Rehabilitation of Muscle Weakness in Acute Respiratory Failure Patients

In Brief Acute respiratory failure patients experience significant muscle weakness, which contributes to prolonged hospitalization and functional impairments after hospital discharge. Based on our previous work, we hypothesize that an exercise intervention initiated early in the intensive care unit aimed at improving skeletal muscle strength could decrease hospital stay and attenuate the deconditioning and skeletal muscle weakness experienced by these patients. Early exercise has the potential to decrease hospital length of stay and improve function in acute respiratory failure patients.