Early ambulation after percutaneous coronary intervention does not increase bleeding risk compared with late ambulation
- Department of Cardiology, Liverpool Hospital, Liverpool, New South Wales, Australia and South Western Sydney Clinical School, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Correspondence to: Associate Professor Craig Juergens
Department of Cardiology, Liverpool Hospital, Elizabeth Street, Liverpool, NSW 2170, Australia;
Commentary on: Tongsai S, Thamlikitkul V. The safety of early versus late ambulation in the management of patients after percutaneous coronary interventions: a meta-analysis. Int J Nurs Stud 2012;49:1084–90.
Implications for practice and research
Early ambulation after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) may facilitate earlier hospital discharge and improve patient comfort.
There are a limited number of randomised clinical trials assessing the safety of this strategy.
This meta-analysis suggests that earlier ambulation was not associated with an increased risk of adverse bleeding events.
The number of PCIs performed around the world continues to increase due to a rising incidence of patients with symptomatic coronary artery disease. Despite an increased interest in performing the procedure via the radial approach, with large-scale clinical trials demonstrating reductions in vascular complications and time to ambulation, the majority of cases involve femoral arterial access. While vascular closure devices (VCDs) facilitate …