Mobilization of Patients Suffering from Acute Myocardial Infarction - When Is It Too Early?

The significant raise in the number of patients surviving an acute myocardial infarction (AMI) has increased the burden of morbidity and disability due to acute coronary events. This has led to an increasing awareness on the need to develop specific rehabilitation programs, both during the acute phase, as well as in out-patient settings. In the pre-revascularization era, AMI was treated in bed. Regardless of the known therapeutic benefits of bed rest, there are scarce data regarding a standardized protocol for the early rehabilitation of patients with AMI. An extensive group of AMI patients are still exposed to prolonged immobilization, with current data showing a disparity in the length of post-MI bed rest, with a time of immobilization reported to be from 2 to 12 days and 2 to 28 days. The growing body of evidence on the effects of early cardiac rehabilitation programs following an AMI suggests that early mobilization after the index event could improve the inflammatory response and further modulate the ventricular remodeling process. The timing, duration, and intensity of cardiac mobilization has not yet been established, and further research on the effects of mobilization as early as the first 12 to 24 hours after the acute event could be beneficial for both short- and long-term outcomes, inflammation, and ventricular remodeling with subsequent heart failure.