Physical Therapy is Good for Patients in Hospital ICUs

Researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center have been looking at how effective it is for a patient to receive physical therapy while they are in a medical intensive care unit (ICU).

The results showed that a group of respiratory-failure patients who received mobility therapy within 2 days of having a breathing tube inserted had their length of stay reduced by an average of 3 days when compared to patients who did not have the therapy. This overall reduction in hospital stay included spending more and a day less in the ICU.

The therapy, which is known as passive range of motion, was done by nursing assistants. The therapy consisted of flexing the joints in the patients arms and legs three times a day and seven days a week. As the patients got better, they received more advanced therapy, this time from a physical therapist. The therapy proved to be safe, and there were no extra costs incurred because the salaries of those giving the therapy were offset by the savings from the shorter hospital stays.

Being immobile causes poor physical condition and these are problems for respiratory failure patients who cannot breathe without a respirator.

There is data available on exercise for emphysema and congestive heart failure patients, but in an outpatient setting, But there is very little data available on the effectiveness of early mobility therapy for patients in the ICU. The results show that it is safe for ICU patients to receive early mobility therapy.

They have completed the first phase of a two-phase study that took place for a total of 24 months. Patients who were admitted to the Medical Center with respiratory failure were put into one of two groups. The protocol group had 165 patients and 165 were put into a control group. The protocol group got the extra physical therapy and the control group got the regular care. Some of those in the control group did get therapy, but not as early or as frequently as the protocol group did. Both groups received the regular level of care once they were out of the ICU.

Besides having shorted stays, the patients in the protocol group also were able to get regular physical therapy sooner, were out of bed earlier and had no adverse events while they were getting the treatments.

They are planing further studies to clarify the best number and duration of the sessions. In the second phase of the study, they are going to look at a bigger variety of ICU patients, some with more serious conditions and some with less serious ones and it will continue until the patient is discharged from the hospital.

There is also a study planned that will look at the effect of early mobility therapy in elderly patients.

The lead researcher is Peter Morris, M.D., associate professor in the Section on Pulmonary, Critical Care, Allergy and Immunologic Diseases. The team for the first phase was from both N.C. Baptist Hospital and Wake Forest University School of Medicine. The study was funded primarily by Baptist Hospital.

Source: Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center http://www.newswise.com/