cardiac rehabilitation has evolved over the past decades from a simple monitoring for the safe return to physical activities to a multidisciplinary approach that focuses on patient education, individually tailored exercise training, modification of the risk factors and the overall well-being of the cardiac patients. It has been proven to be an effective tool for the care of the patients with heart disease. Recent research in cardiac rehabilitation has demonstrated that tremendous benefits can be derived from the optimal use of cardiac rehabilitation in patients with various cardiac pathologies including ischemic heart disease, heart failure and post heart surgery. The benefits of cardiac rehabilitation include mortality reduction, symptom relief, reduction in smoking and improved exercise tolerance, risk factors modification and the overall psychosocial wellbeing. Unfortunately, cardiac rehabilitation remains considerably underutilized mainly because of referral problems and poor enrollment. The development of alternate approaches and the use of transtelephonic and other means of monitoring and surveillance will help expand the utilization of cardiac rehabilitation.
Objective To explore the influence of applying the fast-track surgery (FTS) to optimize the process in the perioperative period of cardiac intervention on the rehabilitation of patients with radial artery stenting surgery. Methods A total of 190 patients with radial artery stenting surgery in the Department of Cardiology, West China Hospital from June 2017 to May 2018 were enrolled. They were randomized into a control group (n=95) and a FTS group (n=95) by random umber table. There were 60 males and 35 females aged 35-88 (65.2±9.6) years in the control group as well as 62 males and 33 females aged 34-86 (61.5±11.3) years in the FTS group. Patients in the control group received routine perioperative care, but patients in the FTS group received individual precision interventions by applying the FTS concept to optimize the process of perioperative care, including individual care management before being admitted into hospital, during hospital, and after discharge from hospital. Duration of hospital stay, satisfaction scores, number of comorbidities after surgery, disease self-management ability, and readmission rates were compared between the two groups. Results Compared to the control group, the FTS group had significantly shorter duration of hospital stay, less comorbidities, higher satisfaction scores and disease self-management ability, and lower readmission rate to hospital (P<0.05). Conclusion Applying FTS into the perioperative period of cardiac interventions to optimize its process can help patients recover from radial artery stenting surgery, increase patients’ self-management abilities, shorten duration of hospital stay and decrease comorbidities and cardiac adverse events.
Implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) is the most effective measure to prevent sudden cardiac death. However, ICD patients frequently have problems such as decline of exercise tolerance and quality of life, anxiety and depression after operation, which require cardiac rehabilitation (CR). A considerable amount of studies have proved that CR is an effective secondary prevention measure for patients with cardiovascular disease. Its safety and effectiveness have been supported by evidence-based medicine research, which can prevent the recurrence of cardiovascular events, reduce the readmisson rate, and promote healthy behavior and active lifestyle formation of patients, so as to improve the quality of life of patients. This review mainly summarized the necessity, safety, exercise program and economic benefits of CR in ICD patients.
Aortic stenosis (AS) is the most common primary valve lesion requiring surgery or transcatheter intervention in modern era. Its prevalence is rising rapidly as a consequence of the aging population. Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) as a therapy option for older high-risk symptomatic severe AS patients has emerged and is currently extending its indications towards surgery intermediate- and low-risk subjects. Considering the common characteristics of frailty and high comorbidity among AS patients, cardiac rehabilitation (CR) has been proven to improve not only survival but also quality of life in previous reports. CR as a classⅠ recommendation in guidelines for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease has been widely used in clinical practice. The purpose of this article is to sort out the current CR programs for TAVR patients in global medical management, and explore the CR optimization program fit for China medical model in post COVID-19 pandemic era.