Early mobilization of patients admitted to Intensive Care Unit with subarachnoid hemorrhage

Abstract

Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) accounts for about 5% of all strokes and affects a young population. Patients with SAH are hospitalized for several weeks in order to set up appropriate therapeutic management and to monitor any complications. To date, there are no recommendations on the mobilization of these patients and the practices are heterogeneous. Patients are generally bedridden during the first weeks following SAH, in order not to induce potentially deleterious hemodynamic variations. However, there is no evidence that this is necessary and prolonged bed rest is likely to lead to multiple complications. The existing literature, although scarce, has shown that from the first days following SAH, the implementation of progressive early mobilization protocols conditioned by a rigorous clinical evaluation and framed by monitoring criteria is possible, safe and potentially beneficial for patients with SAH.