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Benefits of a Supervised Exercise Program After Lower Limb Bypass Surgery

Vascular and Endovascular Surgery Department, Belfast City Hospital, Belfast, Northern Ireland, Stephen{at}Badger.tc

Chee V. Soong, MD FRCS

Vascular and Endovascular Surgery Department, Belfast City Hospital, Belfast, Northern Ireland

Mark E. O’Donnell, DSEM MRCS

Vascular and Endovascular Surgery Department, Belfast City Hospital, Belfast, Northern Ireland

Colm A.G. Boreham, PhD

University of Ulster, Newtownabbey, County Antrim, Northern Ireland

Kathy E. McGuigan, MPhil

Vascular and Endovascular Surgery Department, Belfast City Hospital, Belfast, Northern Ireland

This study evaluated the efficacy of an exercise program after arterial bypass surgery. Patients undergoing bypass surgery were randomized to a control group (group I), with standard preoperative and postoperative care, or the intervention group (group II) with a supervised exercise program of twice-weekly treadmill assessments from 4 to 10 weeks postoperatively. Ankle-brachial pressure indices and hemodynamic measurements were recorded before and after exercise. The mean increase of maximum walking distance was 3.8% in group I and 175.4% in group II (P = .001). There was a significant difference between group I and II in the mean ankle-brachial pressure indices increase at the second assessment (0.08 versus 0.23; P = .02). A supervised exercise program leads to better improvement after lower limb bypass surgery for ischemia, but the feasibility of a formal exercise program would be undermined by the reluctance of patients to participate, both in the short-term and long-term.

Key Words: exercise program • bypass surgery • claudication

Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, Vol. 41, No. 1, 27-32 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/1538574406296209


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