Early mobilization after myocardial infarction: a controlled study.

During the years 1968-71 203 patients with proved myocardial infarction were admitted to the trial. Patients were mobilized either on day 10 (102 patients) or on day 20 (100 patients). All patients were kept in hospital for 30 days in order to ensure a detailed comparison of clinical course and laboratory data. In neither group was there a fatal complication and the differences in clinical outcome or laboratory data were statistically not significant. Half of the patients from each group were re-examined after an average of one-and-a-half years, and again no differences were observed. It is concluded that patients with an uncomplicated myocardial infarction may safely be mobilized after 9 days and discharged after three weeks.