Key result
Cardiac ICU physiotherapists report range of motion exercises as their most common treatment at ~96%.
Why the study?
Current physiotherapy practice for critically ill adult patients requiring prolonged stays after complicated cardiac surgery in Ontario was not well described.
Cross-Sectional (n=28)
Yes
Physiotherapists in Ontario cardiac surgery ICUs commonly use range of motion, airway clearance, and sitting at the edge of the bed, though the use of standardized outcome measures remains limited.
Basic mobility techniques predominate in cardiac surgery ICUs; leaves open standardization of outcome measures and clinical impact.
Purpose: This article describes current physiotherapy practice for critically ill adult patients requiring prolonged stays in critical care (> 3 d) after complicated cardiac surgery in Ontario. Method: We distributed an electronic, self-administered 52-item survey to 35 critical care physiotherapists who treat adult cardiac surgery patients at 11 cardiac surgical sites. Pilot testing and clinical sensibility testing were conducted beforehand. Participants were sent four email reminders. Results: The response rate was 80% (28/35). The median reported number of cardiac surgeries performed per week was 30 (interquartile range [IQR] 10), with a median number of 14.5 (IQR 4) cardiac surgery beds per site. Typical reported caseloads ranged from 6 to 10 patients per day per therapist, and 93% reported that they had initiated physiotherapy with patients once they were clinically stable in the intensive care unit. Of 28 treatments, range of motion exercises (27; 96.4%), airway clearance techniques (26; 92.9%), and sitting at the edge of the bed (25; 89.3%) were the most common. Intra-aortic balloon pump and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation appeared to limit physiotherapy practice. Use of outcome measures was limited. Conclusions: Physiotherapists provide a variety of interventions to critically ill cardiac surgery patients. Further evaluation of the limited use of outcome measures in the cardiac surgical intensive care unit is warranted.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Newman et al. (2021) conducted a cross-sectional in Critically ill adult patients requiring prolonged stays in critical care after complicated cardiac surgery (n=28). Physiotherapy practice was evaluated on Reported physiotherapy treatments. A survey of 28 physiotherapists in cardiac surgery ICUs found the most common treatments were range of motion exercises (96.4%), airway clearance (92.9%), and sitting at the edge of the bed (89.3%).
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: