The objective effects of early mobilization on physical function in patients after cardiac surgery remain unknown. The purpose of the present study was to clarify the effects of early mobilization on physical function in patients after cardiac surgery through meta-analysis. Four electronic databases were searched on 2 August 2019. We used search keywords related to "early mobilization", "cardiac surgery", and "randomized controlled trials". All randomized controlled trials conducting early mobilization after cardiac surgery were included. We defined early mobilization as the application of physical activity within the first five postoperative days. Citations and data extraction were independently screened in duplicate by two authors. The meta-analysis was conducted using random-effects modeling with EZR software. The primary outcome was the distance walked during the six-minute walking test at hospital discharge. Six randomized controlled trials comprising 391 patients were included following screening of 591 studies. All studies included coronary artery bypass grafting as the cardiac surgery conducted. Early mobilization started on postoperative days 1-2 and was conducting twice daily. Early mobilization showed a trend of being combined with respiratory exercise or psychoeducation. The meta-analysis showed that the distance walked during the 6-min walking test improved by 54 m (95% confidence interval, 31.1-76.9; I2 = 52%) at hospital discharge. The present study suggested that early mobilization after cardiac surgery may improve physical function at discharge.
Keywords: cardiac surgery; early mobilization; meta-analysis; physical function.