ABSTRACT
Background: Active mobilization is a key component in fast‑track surgical strategies. Following major surgery, clinicians are often reluctant to mobilize patients arguing that circulatory homeostasis would be impaired as a result of myocardial stunning, fluid shift, and autonomic dysfunction. Aims: We examined the feasibility and safety of a mobilization protocol 12–24 h after elective cardiac surgery. Setting and Design: This observational study was performed in a tertiary nonacademic cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit. Materials and Methods: Over a 6‑month period, we prospectively evaluated the hemodynamic response to a two‑staged mobilization procedure in 53 consecutive patients. Before, during, and after the mobilization, hemodynamics parameters were recorded, including the central venous oxygen saturation (ScvO2), lactate concentrations, mean arterial pressure (MAP), heart rate (HR), right atrial pressure (RAP), and arterial oxygen saturation (SpO2). Any adverse events were documented. Results: All patients successfully completed the mobilization procedure. Compared with the supine position, mobilization induced significant increases in arterial lactate (34.6% [31.6%, 47.6%], P = 0.0022) along with reduction in RAP (−33% [−21%, −45%], P < 0.0001) and ScvO2 (−7.4% [−5.9%, −9.9%], P = 0.0002), whereas HR and SpO2 were unchanged. Eighteen patients (34%) presented a decrease in MAP > 10% and nine of them (17%) required treatment. Hypotensive patients experienced a greater decrease in ScvO2 (−18 ± 5% vs. −9 ± 4%, P = 0.004) with similar changes in RAP and HR. All hemodynamic parameters, but arterial lactate, recovered baseline values after resuming the horizontal position. Conclusions: Early mobilization after cardiac surgery appears to be a safe procedure as far as it is performed under close hemodynamic and clinical monitoring in an intensive care setting.