RESUMO
In the last few years the population referred to cardiac rehabilitation centers has changed profoundly: the number of survivors of acute cardiac events has increased and heart surgery is being proposed to ever greater numbers of elderly patients with frequent and greater comorbidities, which make the management of physical training programs more complex. Consequently, just as rehabilitation cardiologists have had to expand their field of analyses and professional skills and nurses have had to integrate their care protocols, physiotherapists too have had to adapt the management of motor rehabilitation programs to the various needs and problems of each patient in the different phases of recovery. The aim of this paper is to present and discuss the procedures followed in our center concerning both the mode and contents of a standard course of motor rehabilitation for patients without complications and those for patients with complications. The paper analyzes the various assessments, the training program, the instruments of control and verification of the results, and discusses the instruments of intervention in patients affected by complications such as respiratory disturbances, musculoskeletal impairment, complications arising from injury, neurological deficit and severe deconditioning. Finally, the role of the physiotherapist in the active, propositive management of a recovery program is discussed.
