The quantity of early upright mobilisation performed following upper abdominal surgery is low: an observational study

Abstract

QUESTIONS: How much upright mobilisation, particularly uptime, is performed in the first four days following upper abdominal surgery? In what part of the day is the greatest uptime achieved? Is length of stay related to uptime? Is there any difference in uptime in terms of postoperative factors? DESIGN: Prospective observational study. PARTICIPANTS: Fifty patients who had undergone upper abdominal surgery after receiving standardised preoperative education and physiotherapy intervention on the first postoperative day. OUTCOME MEASURES: An activity logger recorded uptime continuously for the first four postoperative days. Postoperative factors such as postoperative pulmonary complications, su..