Why the study?
Patients with CHD remain at risk for in-stent restenosis, recurrent angina, and postoperative anxiety and depression after PCI. The relative impacts of different traditional Chinese exercises on cardiac function and exercise capacity during post-PCI cardiac rehabilitation required comparison.
Do different traditional Chinese exercises combined with conventional treatment improve cardiac function (LVEF, NT-proBNP) and exercise capacity (6MWD) compared to conventional treatment alone in patients with coronary heart disease after percutaneous coronary intervention?
Meta-Analysis (n=3,343)
Do different traditional Chinese exercises combined with conventional treatment improve cardiac function (LVEF, NT-proBNP) and exercise capacity (6MWD) compared to conventional treatment alone in patients with coronary heart disease after percutaneous coronary intervention?
Adding traditional Chinese exercises—particularly Baduanjin—to conventional rehabilitation after PCI significantly improves LVEF, NT-proBNP, and 6-minute walk distance while reducing adverse events, though direct head-to-head trials are needed to confirm comparative superiority.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Supports incorporating Baduanjin into post-PCI rehabilitation; extends comparative effectiveness data for traditional Chinese exercises in coronary disease.
Background Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is one of the most important therapies in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD). However, there are still many problems, such as in-stent restenosis, recurrent angina pectoris, postoperative anxiety and depression. Traditional Chinese exercise (TCE) therapies belong to the aerobic exercise of low and medium intensity, which may have a certain efficacy on cardiac rehabilitation of patients after PCI. The objective of this network meta-analysis is to compare the impacts of different traditional Chinese exercise on cardiac function and exercise capacity in patients after PCI. Methods Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure Database (CNKI), Wanfang Database, Chinese Science and Technique Journals Database (VIP), Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (Sinomed), Yiigle databases, PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library were searched from inception to May 2025, to collect randomized controlled trials (RCTs) about TCE interventions for patients after PCI. We screened the literatures and extracted the data. The Cochrane Collaboration “Risk of bias 2.0” assessment tool will be used to assess the bias of RCTs. Network meta-analysis was conducted using Stata17.0 software. Results A total of 38 studies were included in this network meta-analysis that tested 6 TCE interventions and included 3,343 patients. The quality assessment of included studies revealed that 1 was high risk and 37 studies had some concerns. TCE interventions included Baduanjin (BDJ), Tai Chi (TC), Wu Qinxi (WQX), Tai Chi Yunshou (TCYS), Tai Chi Ball + Baduanjin (TCB + BDJ), and Baduanjin + Yi Jinjing (BDJ + YJJ). The results of network meta-analysis and surface under the cumulative ranking curve(SUCRA) showed that with conventional treatment(CT) as a common control, BDJ + CT achieved the highest SUCRA values for LVEF, NT-proBNP, and 6MWD within the available network (81.1%, 86.5%, and 75.5%, respectively). The network meta-analysis results revealed that BDJ + CT were significantly different compared with CT alone for LVEF [WMD=6.28, 95% CI (4.90, 7.67)], NT-proBNP level [SMD=-2.35, 95% CI (-3.64, −1.06)], and 6MWD [WMD=65.19, 95% CI (38.91,91.48)]. In addition, compared with the control group, the incidence of adverse events in the treatment group was lower [RR = 0.39, 95% CI (0.30, 0.52), P<0.00001]. Conclusions In conclusion, the combination of TCE and CT approaches may enhance the efficacy of CT on cardiac rehabilitation in patients after PCI. BDJ + CT ranked highly within the available network, but its comparative superiority remains uncertain. Indirect comparisons, substantial heterogeneity, and low or very low certainty of evidence limit interpretation. High-quality head-to-head RCTs are needed before recommending one TCE modality over another. Systematic Review Registration PROSPERO CRD420251053210.
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Wang et al. (2026) conducted a meta-analysis in Coronary heart disease post-percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) (n=3,343). Traditional Chinese exercises (specifically Baduanjin, Tai Chi, Wu Qinxi, Tai Chi Yunshou, Tai Chi Ball + Baduanjin, and Baduanjin + Yi Jinjing) combined with conventional treatment vs. Conventional treatment alone was evaluated on Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF, %) for Baduanjin + conventional treatment vs conventional treatment alone (WMD 6.28, 95% CI 4.90, 7.67).
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