Myofascial Manual Release In Cardiac Rehabilitation: Therapeutic Effects Post Sternotomy Surgery

Cardiovascular diseases represent actually the major cause of premature death in Europe even if there has been a drop in the death rate caused by those pathologies in developed countries, while they still preserve their main role as death cause in developing countries. Therefore, considering also the spread of surgical intervention aimed at the care of these pathologies, it is important to assesses the relevance of a structured physiotherapeutic approach in the improvement of these kind of diseases. In this experimental study, we would like to evaluate the effectiveness of a rehabilitation treatment based on the use of Neuromuscular Manual Therapy Techniques on the functional recovery of patients undergoing cardiac surgery via sternotomy. A total of 16 patients undergoing hearth sternotomy surgery were selected and treated with Neuromuscular Manual Techniques on the typically most dysfunctional muscles for this kind of conditions, for a total of 6 weekly sessions in 24,9 days of hospitalization, carried out before and after the hearth surgery. Results obtained showed as the Neuromuscular Manual Therapy affect in a positive way the state of health and quality of life of patients submitted to cardiac surgery in the recovery period, improving vital parameters and motor abilities of patients. We can conclude that Neuromuscular Manual Therapy could be considered a useful tool in the management of this disease.