Exercise can help critically ill patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) to reduce their use of sedatives and speed their recovery.
Exercise can help critically ill patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) to reduce their use of sedatives and speed their recovery.
To see how mild exercise impacts the stay duration and overall health of ICU patients, researchers selected 57 patients in the medical intensive care unit (MICU) at Johns Hopkins, USA and made them undergo mild exercise. The 30- to 45-minute exercise sessions were carefully guided by trained physical and occupational therapists and included a combination of either leg or arm movements while lying flat in bed, sitting up or standing, or walking slowly in the ICU corridors. Some of the patients who did the exercises were attached to life support equipment, such as mechanical ventilators.
The use of drowsiness-inducing benzodiazepines dropped to only 26 percent of patient days in the MICU in the four months after the start of the exercise programme, compared to 50 percent of patient days in the three months before the start of the programme. Daily doses declined still further. Before early exercise was introduced in the MICU, half of the patients received more than 47 milligrams of midazolam and 71 milligrams of morphine per day, compared with less than 15 milligrams of midazolam and 24 milligrams of morphine after the exercise programme began.
There was also a significant decline in patient delirium, which can include hallucinations or being unaware of one's surroundings. The number of clear-thinking days among patients increased from 21 percent to 53 percent after they began exercising.
The findings indicate that exercising markedly improves ICU patients' overall well being and is associated with decreased length of stay in the hospital.
To see how mild exercise impacts the stay duration and overall health of ICU patients, researchers selected 57 patients in the medical intensive care unit (MICU) at Johns Hopkins, USA and made them undergo mild exercise. The 30- to 45-minute exercise sessions were carefully guided by trained physical and occupational therapists and included a combination of either leg or arm movements while lying flat in bed, sitting up or standing, or walking slowly in the ICU corridors. Some of the patients who did the exercises were attached to life support equipment, such as mechanical ventilators.
The use of drowsiness-inducing benzodiazepines dropped to only 26 percent of patient days in the MICU in the four months after the start of the exercise programme, compared to 50 percent of patient days in the three months before the start of the programme. Daily doses declined still further. Before early exercise was introduced in the MICU, half of the patients received more than 47 milligrams of midazolam and 71 milligrams of morphine per day, compared with less than 15 milligrams of midazolam and 24 milligrams of morphine after the exercise programme began.
There was also a significant decline in patient delirium, which can include hallucinations or being unaware of one's surroundings. The number of clear-thinking days among patients increased from 21 percent to 53 percent after they began exercising.
The findings indicate that exercising markedly improves ICU patients' overall well being and is associated with decreased length of stay in the hospital.
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