Early Exercise Rehabilitation After Open Heart Surgery Linked to Better Three-Month Cardiac Recovery

Patients who began structured exercise rehabilitation early after open heart surgery showed better cardiac function three months later than those who received standard nursing care alone, according to a study of 120 patients operated on between January 2019 and December 2021. The findings, published in Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine, also point to fewer postoperative infections, fewer readmissions, and higher patient satisfaction in the group that exercised. The research team, led by Hong Cai, Lingna Cai, Minhui Ding, and Hong Li of Fuzhou University Affiliated Provincial Hospital, together with Siping Chen of Fujian Provincial Hospital, split the 120 patients evenly into two groups of 60.

The researchers assessed several outcomes for both groups: cardiac function measured at discharge and again three months after the operation, the time it took for gastrointestinal peristalsis to recover, the rate of postoperative infections, the rate of readmission to hospital, and how satisfied patients reported being with their care. At the three-month mark, the differences between the groups were statistically significant, with a reported threshold of P less than 0.05. Patients in the early rehabilitation group demonstrated better postoperative cardiac function than those in the control group, alongside a lower infection rate, a reduced readmission rate, and higher patient satisfaction.

These results suggest that the benefits of early exercise were not confined to the immediate hospital stay but persisted into the months following discharge. Not every measure moved, however. The study found no significant difference between the two groups in cardiac function assessed at the time of discharge, meaning the apparent advantage emerged over the following weeks rather than before patients left hospital.

The recovery time of gastrointestinal peristalsis was also statistically indistinguishable between the groups, with both comparisons reported at p greater than 0.05. The authors conclude that early cardiac exercise rehabilitation training during the perioperative period can help improve the short-term recovery of cardiac function in patients who have undergone open heart surgery. They add that the same intervention appeared to reduce postoperative infections and readmissions while improving patient satisfaction.

The study's design and scope impose limits on how far its conclusions can be generalized. It involved a single cohort of 120 patients, with follow-up extending to three months after surgery. The reported outcomes are associations observed between the intervention and recovery measures over that window; the abstract does not report longer-term cardiovascular outcomes such as survival, major cardiac events, or exercise capacity beyond the study period.

Differences in infection and readmission rates, while statistically significant, are drawn from the same patient sample and would benefit from replication in larger, multicenter trials. It is also worth noting that the article, accepted on 29 September 2026, presents its findings at the abstract level, with the final formatted version still to be published, so detailed methodology, the precise rehabilitation protocol, and full effect sizes are not yet available for scrutiny. The authors state that all claims expressed in the article are solely their own and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations or the publisher.

Within those constraints, the study offers a comparatively simple message: getting heart surgery patients moving early, under supervised exercise rehabilitation, may speed the return of cardiac function over the first three months of recovery while trimming infections and hospital readmissions.

Subject of Research: Early cardiac exercise rehabilitation and short-term cardiac function recovery after open heart surgery

Article Title: Effects of early cardiac exercise rehabilitation on the recovery of cardiac function in patients following open heart surgery

Article References: Cai, H., Cai, L., Ding, M., Li, H., & Chen, S. (2026). Effects of early cardiac exercise rehabilitation on the recovery of cardiac function in patients following open heart surgery. Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine, 13, Article 1906620. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcvm.2026.1906620

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.3389/fcvm.2026.1906620

Keywords: open heart surgery, cardiac rehabilitation, cardiac function, postoperative care, infection rate, readmission, patient satisfaction, perioperative nursing, recovery outcomes, cardiovascular medicine, Effects, early