Effects of Physical Exercise in Patients After Cardiac Transplantation: A Systematic Review

Abstract

| Objective:To synthesize the main scientific evidences related to the effects of different protocols of therapy by exercise in patients submitted to cardiac transplantation. Methodology: The research was carried out from the databases MEDLINE and EMBASE via Ovid from 2000 until October 1, 2016, the accumulated index of the literature for nurses and other health professionals (CINAHL), LILACS and Cochrane Central of controlled studies), using the descriptors: heart transplantation, exercise, physiotherapy, physical therapy and physical activity, and no language restriction was imposed for the research, and only the studies developed in the last 16 years were used. Results: 67 articles were found in the initial search. From the 8 articles selected, it was verified that the exercise improved the capacity and the physical performance of individuals in the postoperative period of heart transplant surgeries. Conclusion: Evidence indicates that exercise under the supervision of the professional physiotherapist showed beneficial effects in the rehabilitation of individuals who are in the period after cardiac transplantation.

The effects of exercise training in adult solid organ transplant recipients: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…Our meta‐analysis showed an overall improvement in exercise capacity (VO 2 peak) in SOT recipients as did Didsbury et a l. [17]. Other reviews have shown improvements in VO 2 peak in several single organ groups [11‐16,20,55], but none of them conducted meta‐analyses including liver and lung transplant recipients. Low VO 2 peak has been associated with higher risk for cardiovascular disease and is a predictor of mortality in chronic disease populations [8] and SOT recipients [1] so an improvement in VO 2 peak may improve prognosis and reduce risk for cardiovascular disease post‐transplant.…”

“…Another strength is the novel contributions of our study compared to previous reviews. Prior reviews were conducted on recipients of a single transplant type (i.e., organ specific) and included a smaller number of studies [11][12][13][14][15][16]20,55] preventing the pooling of results or were focused on a narrower list of outcome measures [56]. We have included 20 new studies [26,[28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][38][39][40][41]43,48,50,[52][53][54] not included in Didsbury's review [17].…”

“…Available systematic reviews on the effects of exercise training in SOT have generally focused on one type of transplant [11][12][13][14][15][16]. In contrast, a 2013 systematic review and meta-analysis by Did bury et al [17] included 15 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) covering all SOT recipient types and most of the relevant outcomes.…”

“…Available systematic reviews on the effects of exercise training in SOT have generally focused on one type of transplant [11‐16]. In contrast, a 2013 systematic review and meta‐analysis by Did bury et al .…”