Effect of Trunk Stabilizing Exercises on Patients With Median Sternotomy After Heart Valve Surgery

PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of trunk stabilizing exercises on sternal instability in patients with median sternotomy after heart valve surgery

Valvular heart disease constitutes a growing healthcare problem with a general prevalence of 2%-5% and a prevalence of 13% after the age of 75 years. Heart valve surgery can be a lifesaving procedure for patients with severe symptomatic heart valve disease. Nevertheless, following the surgery, up to 27% of patients may require readmission within 30 days after discharge. Following heart valve surgery, some patients report anxiety and worries related to readmission and reoperations, postoperative complications, and deconditioning which may prevent or delay return to work and limit activities of daily living Trunk stabilizing exercises train and activate the abdominal and anterior thoracic cage muscles to assist in stabilizing the bisected sternum, thereby decreasing the undue motion in both sagittal and transverse planes during trunk movement. Patients' complaints of pain and discomfort associated with sternal instability post-cardiac surgery may be managed by diminishing the degree of this undue motion between the edges of the divided sternum, and thus provides a conservative treatment for sternal instability forty female patients will be divided into two groups. group A received trunk stabilizing exercise and group B will receive routine cardiac rehabilitation; three times/week for four weeks. the outcome variables were sternal instability and sternal separation and measured before and after completion of treatment