Effect of Early Rehabilitation Exercise on Lower Limb Function and Psychological State After Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: While early rehabilitation exercise has been shown to improve cardiopulmonary function and functional outcomes after revascularization in individuals who have undergone coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), further research is still needed to fully understand the importance of psychological status and limb functional rehabilitation following CABG. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of early rehabilitation exercise on lower limb function and mental health after coronary artery bypass grafting. Methods: Eighty patients who underwent CABG were randomly divided into a routine exercise group and an early rehabilitation exercise group. The degree of lower limb swelling, the amount of incision complications, the first time the patient got out of bed after the operation, the length of postoperative hospital stay, activity tolerance and postoperative psychological state were compared between the two groups. Results: The incidence of postoperative lower extremity oedema was 30% in the early rehabilitative exercise group as compared to 52.5% in the routine exercise group. Between the two groups, there was a statistically significant difference (p < 0.05) in the incidence of postoperative lower limb edema as well as the amount of swelling in the thighs and ankles on postoperative days 1, 3, and 5. In the routine exercise group, the first time the patients got out of bed was 3.45 ± 1.09 days, and the length of postoperative hospitalization was 12.75 ± 5.06 days. In the early rehabilitation exercise group, the first time the patients got out of bed was 1.93 ± 0.57 days, and the length of postoperative hospitalization was 9.50 ± 2.92 days. There were statistically significant differences in these two indices between the two groups (p < 0.05). The activity tolerance of patients in the routine exercise group was 46.10 ± 19.09 min at 2 months after surgery and 69.88 ± 19.05 min at 3 months after surgery. The activity tolerance of patients in the early rehabilitation exercise group was 56.40 ± 17.42 min at 2 months after surgery and 105 ± 23.04 min at 3 months after surgery, and there was a significant difference in activity tolerance between the two groups at these time points following surgery (p < 0.05). In addition, there were statistically significant differences in the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Generalized Anxiety Self-Assessment Scale-7 and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index scores between the two groups (p > 0.05). Conclusions: Early rehabilitation exercises can promote the recovery of lower limb function after CABG to a certain extent, shorten the postoperative bed rest time and hospital stay, and effectively improve postoperative psychological well-being and sleep quality.