Key result
Supervised cardiac rehabilitation increases peak VO2 by ~1.8 mL/kg/min over home exercise after open-heart surgery.
Why the study?
Open-heart surgery restores cardiac anatomy without immediately restoring functional capacity, prompting evaluation of changes in exercise capacity and health-related quality of life with a structured 6-week cardiac rehabilitation program.
Does a 6-week supervised outpatient cardiac rehabilitation program improve weight-indexed peak VO₂ compared to low-intensity home-based exercise in stable patients following open-heart surgery?
Does a 6-week supervised outpatient cardiac rehabilitation program improve weight-indexed peak VO₂ compared to low-intensity home-based exercise in stable patients following open-heart surgery?
A 6-week supervised outpatient cardiac rehabilitation program following open-heart surgery was associated with significantly greater improvements in peak VO₂, exercise duration, and O₂-pulse compared to low-intensity home-based exercise, while both approaches improved 6-minute walk distance and quality of life.
Supervised rehabilitation may enhance post-surgical exercise capacity; nonrandomized data leaves open need for randomized confirmation before practice change.
Background. Open-heart surgery restores cardiac anatomy but does not immediately restore functional capacity. This study evaluated the changes in exercise capacity and health-related quality of life associated with a structured 6-week cardiac rehabilitation (CR) program after open-heart surgery. Materials and methods. In this prospective, nonrandomized controlled study, 50 stable patients after open-heart surgery at Military Hospital 175 were allocated to a supervised intervention group (n = 25; 3–5 sessions/week for 6 weeks) or a control group (n = 25; low-intensity home-based exercise). Before and after the intervention, patients were assessed by cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET), the 6-minute walk test, EQ-5D-5L, and MacNew. The prespecified primary outcome was the change in weight-indexed peak VO₂. Other outcomes were exploratory. Results. In the intervention group, weight-indexed peak VO₂ increased by 2.31 ± 2.96 mL/kg/min (p = 0.001), METs by 0.59 ± 0.90 (p = 0.003), 1-minute heart rate recovery by 3.44 ± 8.11 beats/min (p = 0.044), exercise duration by 0.60 ± 1.45 min (p = 0.049), peak workload by 9.04 ± 16.06 W (p = 0.010), and O₂-pulse by 1.26 ± 1.62 mL/beat (p = 0.001). Between-group changes were greater in the supervised rehabilitation group for absolute peak VO₂ (p = 0.049), weight-indexed peak VO₂ (mean difference 1.75 mL/kg/min, 95% CI 0.26–3.24; p = 0.022), exercise duration (p = 0.033), and O₂-pulse (p = 0.011). The 6-minute walking distance and MacNew scores improved within both groups without significant between-group differences. VE/VCO₂ and EQ-5D-5L did not change significantly. No serious exercise-related adverse events were recorded. Conclusions. Participation in a 6-week supervised cardiac rehabilitation program after open-heart surgery was associated with greater improvements in peak VO₂, exercise duration, and O₂-pulse than low-intensity home-based exercise. No serious exercise-related adverse events were observed under the study conditions.
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Viet et al. (2026) studied Post-open-heart surgery recovery (valve surgery, CABG, or congenital defect repair) (n=50). Supervised outpatient cardiac rehabilitation vs. Low-intensity home-based exercise (walking 20–30 min, 3–5 times/week) was evaluated on Change in weight-indexed peak VO2 (mL/kg/min) at 6 weeks (MD 1.75 mL/kg/min, 95% CI 0.26–3.24, p=0.022). Six-week supervised cardiac rehabilitation significantly increased weight-indexed peak VO2 compared to home-based exercise after open-heart surgery (MD 1.75 mL/kg/min, 95% CI 0.26–3.24; p = 0.022).
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