Zeppos L; Patman S; Berney S; Adsett JA; Bridson JM; Paratz J
This study set out to determine how frequently adverse events occur during physiotherapy interventions in intensive care. The patient population consisted of patients admitted to intensive care for heterogeneous reasons.
Of 12 281 physiotherapy interventions 27 resulted in adverse physiological changes (0.2%). These changes (deterioration in cardiovascular status) occurred most commonly in patients on medium to high doses of inotropes / vasopressors, unstable baseline homodynamic values and previous cardiac co-morbidities. The interventions likely to bring about haemodynamic changes in these patients were those interventions consisting of positive pressure and / or the right side lying position.
Australian Journal of Physiotherapy 2007, 53 (4): 279 – 283