Evidence-Based Early Rehabilitation Intervention in the Intensive Care Unit : A Literature Review

Post-intensive care syndrome refers to impairment of the physical, cognitive, and mental health of patients admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU). This condition can negatively affect patients’ quality of life; therefore, early rehabilitation is important to manage these complications, and improved functional ability, muscle strength, and quality of life are benefits of prompt intervention in patients admitted to an ICU. In this literature review, we investigated the effectiveness of early rehabilitation introduced for patients in the ICU. We searched the PubMed database between 2018 and 2022 using the following search terms: “ICU rehabilitation” and “early mobilization ICU.” We retrieved 75 articles; 9 studies met the inclusion criteria. The effects of early rehabilitation for critically ill patients were classified into functional mobility, strength, quality of life, and others. We observed significant and non-significant differences between the aforementioned studies. Despite the conflicting results observed across the aforementioned studies, we recommend introduction of early- stage systematic and structured rehabilitation for critically ill patients.