A clinical study on the effects of ICU cardiac rehabilitation nursing care on patients with totally thoracoscopic cardiac operation

Background The video-assisted thoracoscopic surgical techniques are widely used in the treatment of patients with congenital heart diseases with good outcomes. However, the feasibility and significance of nurse based early cardiac rehabilitation in cardiac intensive care unit （ICU） for patients with totally thoracoscopic cardi- ac operation has been seldom studied. Methods Thirty-six patients with totally thoracoscopic cardiac operation under the condition of the cardiac ICU in Guangdong General Hospital were random allocated to the intervention group and the control group between January 2012 to December 2014. The control group received standard nursing care, and the intervention group received early cardiac rehabilitation nursingcare in addition to standard care. The outcome measures included the oxygen saturation （SPO2%）, vital capacity, forced expiratory volume in 1 second （FEV1）, and pain in the thoracic wound （visual analogue scale, VAS）, which were measured at the baseline and within 2-day after 4-week nursingcare. For safety reason, we also monitored the rate of perceived exertion （RPE）, heart rate, systemic blood pressure. Results There were non-significant differences between the groups in age, sex, total number of comorbid conditions, total number of medications, surgical time, and anesthetic time （P〉0.05）. Following 4 weeks treatment, the cardiopulmonary functions and VAS scorewere improved （P〈0.05） in all groups. In addition, the improvements were more in the early cardiac rehabilitation nurse care group than in the control group （P〈0.05）. Conclusion The early cardiac rehabilitation nursing care in cardiac ICU is safe, feasible and beneficial for patients with totally thoracoscopic cardiac operation.