The effect of systematic lower-limb rehabilitation training in elderly patients undergoing lumbar fusion surgery: a retrospective study.

// Si-Kai Liu 1, * , Yan-Li Song 1, * , Wen-Yuan Ding 1, 2 , Da-Long Yang 1 , Lei Ma 1 and Si-Dong Yang 1 1 Department of Spinal Surgery, The Third Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, 050051, Hebei Province, China 2 Hebei Provincial Key Laboratory of Orthopaedic Biomechanics, Shijiazhuang, 050051, Hebei Province, China * These authors have contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Wen-Yuan Ding, email: dingwyster@126.com Si-Dong Yang, email: sidongyang@hebmu.edu.cn Keywords: intervertebral disc degeneration; elderly patients; lower-limb rehabilitation gymnastics; orthopedic nursing; postoperative rehabilitation Received: September 16, 2017      Accepted: November 13, 2017      Published: November 28, 2017 ABSTRACT Objectives: The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of systematic lower-limb rehabilitation training in elderly patients undergoing lumbar fusion surgery due to serious degenerative intervertebral disc diseases. Results: At the 1st week after surgery, clinical rehabilitation effect in intervention group was better regarding lower-limb muscle strength, lower-limb DVT, VAS score, and ODI, as compared with control group (all p < 0.05). During the first two weeks after surgery, satisfaction rate in intervention group was higher than that in control group. However, there was no significant difference at last follow-up after surgery when comparing intervention group to control group. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively collected medical records of elderly patients (aged ≥ 60 yrs) undergoing lumbar fusion surgery between 01/2013 and 01/2015 in our department. Some of the identified patients randomly underwent postoperative systematic training of lower-limb rehabilitation gymnastics (intervention group, n = 240), the others not (control group, n = 300). During postoperative period, intervention group received lower-limb rehabilitation gymnastics treatment for 3 months, but control group did not. All patients were routinely asked to return hospital for a check in the 1st postoperative week, as well as the 2nd week, the 1st month, and the 3rd month. Clinical outcomes were evaluated by scoring lower-limb muscle strength, detecting lower-limb deep venous thrombosis (DVT), visual analogue scale (VAS) score, lumbar JOA score, Oswestry disability index (ODI) questionnaire, and performing satisfaction survey. Conclusions: In early postoperative stage, systematic lower-limb rehabilitation training can effectively speed up the recovery, beneficial to reducing lower-limb DVT and increasing patient satisfaction rate.