Acute effect of the use of cycle ergometer during physical therapy treatment in mechanically ventilated critically ill patients

ABSTRACT Mechanically ventilated patients admitted to intensive care units (ICU) usually have muscle dysfunction due to physical inactivity, inflammatory processes, and to the use of pharmacological agents. The objective of this study was to compare the intense use of cycle ergometer in critical mechanically ventilated patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). This is a randomized clinical trial with 25 mechanically ventilated ICU patients from Porto Alegre Teaching Hospital. We collected, pre- and post-intervention, hemodynamic and respiratory variables, and we also assessed the C-reactive protein, through the arterial blood gas test, and lactate levels and gas exchange. The protocol included upper and lower extremity diagonals from the Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation method and bronchial hygiene exercises when necessary. In the intervention group, in addition of the abovementioned physiotherapy, the group underwent passive cycle ergometer exercises. The analysis was carried out using SPSS 18.0. We used mean and standard deviation to describe continuous data and adopted significance level of 5%. Statistically significant change was observed for peak pressure (pre=25.1±5.9 and post=21.0±2.7 cmH2O; p=0.03) in the conventional group and for bicarbonate (pre: 23.5±4.3 and post: 20.6±3.0; p=0.002) in the intervention group. We concluded thus that neither does cycle ergometer in a protocol for early mobilization alter hemodynamic and respiratory mechanics, nor does it result in acute physiological responses.