To investigate the effects of early rehabilitation treatment on intensive care unit (ICU) acquired weakness prevention in critical patients.

From June to December 2016, a total of 84 critical patients in ICU of Shiyan Taihe Hospital were recruited and randomly divided into intervention group and control group, with 42 cases in each. The control group patients received routine limbs passive and functional exercise, while the intervention group received early rehabilitation treatment on the basis of the control group. All the data was analyzed by statistic software SPSS 20.0. The incidence of ICU acquired weakness, Barthel Index (BI) at discharge from ICU, the length of patients stay in ICU and duration of mechanical ventilation were compared between the two groups.

The incidence rate of ICU acquired weakness was 4.8% in the intervention group, which was lower than 38.1% in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05) . The score of BI at discharge from ICU of intervention group was (47.29±4.66) , which was higher than that of the control group (43.39±4.97) , with statistical difference (P<0.05) . The length of patients' stay in ICU in intervention group was (8.40±1.93) days and the duration of mechanical ventilation was (4.17±1.19) days, which were both lower than (11.70±5.81) and (6.26±1.81) days in control group respectively (P<0.05) .

Early rehabilitation therapy can significantly reduce the incidence rate of ICU acquired weakness, improve the self-care ability of patients with critical illness, and significantly reduce the duration of mechanical ventilation and the length of patients' stay in ICU.

Intensive care units; Acquired weakness; Rehabilitation