The distance walked daily as a post-operative measure after pulmonary endarterectomy

Background Pulmonary endarterectomy (PEA) is recognized as the best surgical choice for treatment of chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension caused by pulmonary vascular occlusion in eligible patients. This study aims to describe correlations between the daily walk (DW), and the demographic and clinical characteristics of patients undergoing pulmonary endarterectomy. Methods This was a cross-sectional study using data from 32 consecutive patients who had undergone PEA operations and were admitted to the cardiac ward to complete their post-operative rehabilitation. Results Those with a body mass index of ≥25 walked a greater distance during the post-operative rehabilitation phase after PEA compared with those with body mass index Conclusions The authors found that estimation of the DW was a simple, inexpensive, and reliable measure that can help professionals to evaluate patients' post-operative course after PEA.