Patients that have undergone coronary stenting surgery currently have different opinions about their postoperative care. Some believe that they should take a rest; for these patients, their blood vessels have been made unobstructed after the surgery, but the cardiac function has not restored, so going out to take exercise is a burden for them. However, other patients think there is nothing to worry about, and they can still indulge themselves in the previous unhealthy lifestyle after the surgery, which leads to the reoccurrence of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). We don't want to see either of these cases happen. For those having a stent placed in their heart, a very important question is: should they rest or exercise after the procedure?

First of all, let's learn about the concept of stenting . It's actually a kind of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) which helps open the blocked coronary arteries surrounding the heart, just like an obstructed water pipe needs to be cleaned and opened. In fact, coronary heart disease (CHD) is developed in a long time by various factors including hyperlipidemia, hypertension, hyperglycemia, obesity, family history, and unhealthy living habits.

In addition, the heart functions as the blood pump to supply oxygen and blood for the whole body. If the CHD exists for years, it will diminish the cardiac function and cause symptoms such as fatigue, dizziness, shortness of breath after exercise, which can not be simply improved by stent implantation. Therefore, after PCI, patients still need to follow doctor's advice to implement postoperative management related to medication, exercise, diet and psychology, so as to treat and change all of the risk factors for CHD, otherwise the opened arteries will be blocked again and risks for CVD will remain high.

Medical studies have shown that: appropriate exercise after myocardial infarction has been proved to be an effective way to improve cardiac function, control disease risk factors and reduce the reoccurrence of CVDs. Medical guidelines at home and abroad suggest that exercise should be integrated as a method into the overall CHD treatment. What's more, daily life, work and social activities require our heart to be strong to provide enough blood and oxygen for the whole body. Patients receiving coronary stenting have weak heart function, and need some targeted exercise after the surgery to cope with physical activities and resume normal life and work in a safe, healthy and energetic manner.

For these patients, actually, taking exercise reasonably after the PCI can help the body recover in many aspects: significantly reducing the incidence of future CVDs, greatly improving cardiac function, enhancing vascular endothelial function, control cardiovascular risk factors, relieving anxiety, and increasing the quality of life.

DeltaHealth Hospital kindly reminds: After coronary stenting, doctors will provide personalized guidance for patient’s scientific exercise based on thorough clinical evaluation, in order to help patients improve cardiac function and develop healthy lifestyle. We wish that every patient with CHD can start new life by taking appropriate exercise.

References： 

【1】中华医学会, 中华医学会杂志社, 中华医学会全科医学分会, 中华医学会《中华全科医师杂志》编辑委员会, & 心血管系统疾病基层诊疗指南编写专家组. 稳定性冠心病基层诊疗指南(2020年). 中华全科医师杂志, 20(3), 9.

【2】Goel, K., Lennon, R. J., Tilbury, R. T., Squires, R. W., & Thomas, R. J. (2011). Impact of cardiac rehabilitation on mortality and cardiovascular events after percutaneous coronary intervention in the community. Circulation, 123(21), 2344-2352. https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.110.983536