Effectiveness of Cardiac Rehabilitation in Myocardial Infarction Patients After Percutaneous Coronary Intervention

Background Post myocardial infarction rehabilitation can have a positive impact on overall patient health. Therefore, the present study investigated the role of cardiac rehabilitation in reducing the frequency of arrhythmias, recurrent angina, readmission, and mortality in patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention. Methodology A prospective observational study was conducted at the Cardiology Department, Khyber Teaching Hospital, Pakistan, between 1st March 2021 and 30th May 2021. All patients who were discharged after being diagnosed with acute myocardial infarction were included in the study. Patients who were not able to give consent, had physical fragility, mental impairment, or those who have critical illness were excluded from the study. 40 patients underwent cardiac rehabilitation while the other 40 acted as controls. The cardiac rehabilitation group patients were asked to engage in 15-30 minutes of activity daily and keep a record of all their activities. Death, recurrence, rhythm abnormalities, rehospitalizations, and BMI (body mass index) were all documented on a predesigned proforma and compared between intervention and control. A three-month-long follow-up plan was established. Results A total of 80 patients were enrolled in the study. Post-infarction angina (p = 0.0012) was significantly higher in patients who did not receive cardiac rehabilitation (CR). The incidence of arrhythmias was significantly higher in the control group as compared to the rehab group (p=0.002). Moreover, the mean left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was also significantly higher in patients who underwent CR as compared to the control group (44.76 +/- 13.8 vs. 42.9 +/- 13.5, p = 0.01). There was no significant difference between the post -intervention BMI in the rehab group. Conclusion In conclusion, the present study findings revealed that mild to moderate cardiac rehabilitation (CR) was related to the less frequent occurrence of post-infarction angina and arrhythmias. Moreover, we found that patients who received CR experienced a significant improvement in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) as compared to the control group. However, further large-scale studies from multiple centers are warranted.