Journal Article

A comparative analysis of open heart surgery and minimally invasive cardiac surgery in exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation

Ziob, Mira, Uzun, Neslihan, Rodriguez Cetina Biefer, Hector, Hubisz, Maciej Marek, Steiner, Sonja, Lesan, Vlada, Weibel, Sandra, Dzemali, Omer, Meier-Ruge, Ladina, Niederseer, David, Vontobel, Jan, van der Stouwe, Jan Gerrit, Erni, Dominic

2024

Overview

Background Historically, the majority of patients admitted to inpatient exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation (EBCR) have undergone open heart surgery (OHS). However, with advances in minimally invasive cardiac surgery (MICS), these patient groups are also increasingly referred for inpatient EBCR. Herein, we aimed to compare the progress of these groups during rehabilitation. Methods In this prospective, nonrandomized study, 403 inpatient EBCR patients were recruited from December 2022 until September 2023 and stratified into two groups: OHS, and MICS. Participants completed a 3-4-week certified EBCR program. The primary endpoint was defined as a change in the 6-minute walk test (6MWT). Moreover, a comprehensive panel of quality-of-life (QoL) assessments were performed at admission and discharge. Results At baseline, patients with OHS were older (66 years [IQR 59 – 72]), more often male (83%), and underwent emergency/urgent procedures more often (20%) than patients with MICS. Furthermore, patients with MICS showed a better 6MWT at admission (426 meters [IQR 336 – 483]) compared to patients with OHS (381 meters [IQR 299 – 453]). While all patients were able to increase the distance in the 6MWT, regression analyses in fully adjusted models showed no difference in improvements between the two groups (β -5, 95% CI, -26 – 14, p = 0.58). Moreover, during EBCR, we observed significant improvements in all QoL measures in all groups. Conclusions In this study, improvements in fitness, as assessed by the 6WMT were observed in all groups. Furthermore, multiple QoL measures improved equally across all groups. These encouraging results emphasize the importance of EBCR.

• Publisher: BioMed Central,BioMed Central Ltd,Springer Nature B.V,BMC
• Subject: Age / Aged / Analysis of covariance / Cardiac Rehabilitation - methods / Cardiac Surgery / Cardiac Surgical Procedures - rehabilitation / Cardiology / Cardiovascular disease / Comparative analysis / Diabetes / Emergency procedures / Exercise Therapy - methods / Female / Heart / Heart failure / Heart surgery / Hemoglobin / Humans / Hypertension / Inpatient exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation / Male / Measuring instruments / Medical research / Medicine / Medicine & Public Health / Medicine, Experimental / Metabolic disorders / Middle Aged / Minimally invasive cardiac surgery / Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures - methods / Nutrition research / Open heart surgery / Ostomy / Patients / Physical fitness / Prospective Studies / Quality of Life / Regression analysis / Rehabilitation / Sports training / Surgery / Thoracic Surgery / Type 2 diabetes / Walk Test / Walking / Weightlifting