The effect of early mobilization of post-cardiac surgery patients on delirium: a pilot study.
Jingyuan Xu, Weijie Yu, Yun Yu and 8 others
PMID 41706053WHAT IT FOUND
Early mobilization did not significantly reduce delirium incidence compared to usual care.
However, it shortened delirium duration and showed a trend toward lower incidence on day 2. The protocol was safe, with no severe adverse events, though tachycardia occurred in 13% of patients.
Key findings
01The primary outcome, incidence of delirium within 7 days, showed no significant difference between groups.
02Duration of delirium was significantly shorter in the early mobilization group.
03No severe adverse events occurred during mobilization, but tachycardia was observed in 13% of the early mobilization group.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The study was a pilot with a small sample size (60 patients) and was not powered to detect statistically significant differences in the primary outcome. Blinding of patients and clinical staff was not feasible due to the nature of the intervention, which may have introduced performance and detection bias. The study was conducted in a single center with specific resources (e.g., ceiling lift systems), limiting generalizability to other healthcare settings. The observed trends in delirium duration and incidence are preliminary and hypothesis-generating.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflicts of interest. The study was funded by grants from the Jiangsu Provincial Medical Youth Talent, the National Natural Science Foundations of China, and other provincial funds.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the significant reduction in delirium duration as proof that early mobilization prevents delirium. The primary outcome (incidence) was null, and the study was underpowered. The findings are hypothesis-generating and require confirmation in larger trials.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →