Patient Mobility and Outcomes After Cardiac Surgery

Standards for post-cardiac surgery physical interventions vary between insitutions and there are no published guidelines for national organizations in the U.S. The increasing body of evidence for the effectiveness of physical interventions coupled with variability in how these interventions are implemented suggests a critical need to prospectively determine the impact of clearly defined postoperative physical interventions. This randomized, controlled study seeks to determine the effectiveness of a three-pronged, enhanced, post-operative physical therapy protocol which includes 1) early mobilization, 2) frequent mobilization and ambulation, and 3) patient education on the outcomes of hospital lengths of stay and discharge disposition. The investigators will enroll 220 adult subjects undergoing elective CABG, mitral valve repair or replacement surgery, aortic valve surgery, or combined CABG/valve procedures. Subjects will be randomized to either the control (standard-of-care) group or intervention group (enhanced protocol), and followed for five days. Subjects in each group will wear a FitBit Charge 2 for the duration of the five days following surgery. This will provide both sleep activity and steps data that will be analyzed for sleep quality and distance walked. The primary aim is to assess the difference between groups for ICU and hospital length of stay.

Patients will be identified based on pre-screening the cardiothoracic surgery schedule. Study staff will visit potential study subjects in the pre-surgical testing clinic to discuss the study's objectives and to ascertain subjects' interest in participating in the study. After providing informed consent, subjects will be randomized using SAS into either the interventional group or standard care group after their surgical procedure is complete and the subject has been transferred to the CVICU. After completion of the surgical procedure, patients who had a major perioperative complication such as stroke, myocardial infarction, pulmonary embolism, hemorrhage requiring massive transfusion (\>10 units of PRBCs), intraoperative cardiac arrest, or intraoperative pulmonary arrest, will be considered screen failures and will not be randomized, since the investigators consider the patient enrolled once randomized. Patients randomized to the interventional group will undergo the enhanced physical therapy protocol which includes mobilization from bed to chair on the day of surgery and more frequent ambulation on the subsequent five days. The main differences between the standard therapy (control) group and intervention group is the timing of post-operative mobilization and ambulation, as well as the point at which they receive gait and safe ambulation training. In the standard therapy group, the patients will receive a FitBit2 after their arrival on the ICU, withstanding any postoperative complications. On POD 1 the subjects routinely get up to the bedside chair with the help of an ICU nurse or physical therapist. The subjects will generally ambulate one-half the circumference of the ICU with assistance, though this is not enforced. On POD2 and onward, the standard therapy group typically will get up to the bedside chair at least once, as well as walk one-half circumference of the ICU, and will receive the standard physical therapy gait and ambulation training. The intervention group will have the FitBit2 watch placed on their wrist on POD 0, along with getting up to the bedside chair. On POD 1, the subjects will get up to the bedside chair twice (as tolerated by patient), and will be asked to walk one-half the ICU circumference. Additionally, the patient's physical therapy and gait/ambulation training will commence on POD 1. On POD 2, the subjects will get up to the bedside chair three times, and will be asked to attempt three walks with the goal of one full ICU circumference.