Objective To investigate the role of cardiac rehabilitation program in the early recovery after minimally invasive incision coronary artery bypass grafting with general anesthesia. MethodsA retrospective study was performed on the patients who underwent minimally invasive incision coronary artery bypass grafting from January 2015 to January 2020 with general anesthesia in our hospital. The patients were divided into a cardiac rehabilitation group and a control group. The clinical data of the patients were collected in 6 months and 12 months after the beginning of cardiac rehabilitation program and were analyzed by propensity score-matching analysis with a ratio of 1∶1. The main outcomes were the peak oxygen uptake (VO2 peak) of cardiopulmonary function test and the number of patients attending cardiovascular specialties in tertiary hospitals during the follow-up period (20 months). ResultsA total of 600 patients were enrolled, including 200 patients in the cardiac rehabilitation group [137 males and 63 females, aged 61.00 (56.00, 65.00) years] and 400 patients in the control group [285 males and 115 females, aged 60.00 (56.00, 65.00) years]. After matching, 176 patients were included in each group, and the basical clinical data of the pateints were comparable (P>0.05). The VO2 peak of the cardiac rehabilitation group after 6 months and 12 months of cardiac rehabilitation was significantly different from that of the control group [6 months: 1.96 (1.59, 2.38) L/min vs. 1.72 (1.38, 2.12) L/min, P<0.001; 12 months: 2.40 (2.21, 2.63) L/min vs. 2.12 (1.83, 2.45) L/min, P<0.001]. During the follow-up period, there was a statistical difference in the cardiovascular specialist visits in tertiary hospitals (P=0.004). ConclusionCardiac rehabilitation program has a positive effect on the recovery of minimally invasive incision coronary artery bypass grafting with general anesthesia, and can improve the exercise ability of patients.