Characteristics of included studies of ambulation to prevent venous thromboembolism
| Study | Year | Country | Study design | Patient population | Groups | n | Male no. (%) | Age, yr; mean ± SD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miller et al39 | 1976 | US | RCT | Medicine (acute MI and heart failure) | Early ambulation | 21 | NR | NR |
| Bed rest | 8 | NR | NR | |||||
| Prerovský et al40 | 1988 | Amsterdam | RCT | Medicine (acute MI) | Active foot flexion | 135 | 109 (81) | 59 ± 9 |
| Heparin | 133 | 101 (76) | 58 ± 9 | |||||
| Control | 140 | 109 (78) | 59 ± 8 | |||||
| Vioreanu et al41 | 2007 | Ireland | RCT | Orthopedics (foot and ankle) | Cast immobilization | 29 | 20 (69) | 35 ± 16 |
| Early ambulation | 33 | 21 (64) | 37 ± 13 | |||||
| Sorbello et al42 | 2009 | Australia | RCT | Medicine (stroke) | Standard of care | 33 | 16 (48) | 75 ± 10 |
| Early mobilization | 38 | 22 (58) | 75 ± 15 | |||||
| Amin et al46 | 2010 | France | Secondary analysis of RCT | Medicine | Ambulatory | 607 | 317 (52) | 72 ± 11 |
| Nonambulatory | 447 | 226 (47) | 75 ± 10 | |||||
| Wang et al43 | 2016 | China | RCT | Orthopedics | Control | 78 | 65 (83) | 54 ± 6 |
| Active ankle movements | 96 | 78 (81) | 52 ± 7 | |||||
| de Almeida et al44 | 2017 | Italy | RCT | General surgery | Control | 54 | 22 (41) | 62 (51–68)* |
| Early mobilization | 54 | 21 (39) | 61 (53–70)* | |||||
| Guo et al45 | 2019 | China | RCT | Gynecology (surgical oncology) | Control | 53 | 0 (0) | 52 ± 13 |
| Functional exercises | 62 | 0 (0) | 48 ± 11 | |||||
| Lassen and Borris29 | 1991 | Denmark | Prospective cohort | Orthopedics (THA) | POD #4 mobilization (Gr1) | 35 | NR | NR |
| POD #9 mobilization (Gr2) | 16 | NR | NR | |||||
| Gr2 mobilization to POD #4 | 19 | NR | NR | |||||
| Karic et al30 | 2017 | Norway | Prospective cohort | Neurosurgery (aneurysmal repair) | Control | 77 | 28 (36) | 54 (25–79)* |
| Early mobilization | 94 | 28 (30) | 57 (25–81)* | |||||
| Moses32 | 1951 | US | Retrospective cohort | Surgery | Control | 74 | NR | NR |
| Bicycle exercise | 74 | NR | NR | |||||
| Flanc et al33 | 1969 | England | Retrospective cohort | Surgery | Control | 65 | NR | NR |
| Supervised exercise | 67 | NR | NR | |||||
| Pearse et al34 | 2007 | US | Retrospective cohort | Orthopedics (TKA) | Early mobilization | 97 | 54 (56) | 69 (SD NR) |
| Control | 98 | 48 (49) | 69 (SD NR) | |||||
| Chandrasekaran et al35 | 2009 | Australia | Retrospective cohort | Orthopedics (TKA) | Before ambulation protocol | 50 | 21 (42) | 73 (SD NR) |
| After ambulation protocol | 50 | 24 (48) | 71 (SD NR) | |||||
| Frantzides et al36 | 2012 | US | Retrospective cohort | General surgery (bypass) | Ambulation protocol | 1257 | NR | NR |
| Heparin protocol | 435 | NR | NR | |||||
| Cassidy et al37 | 2014 | US | Retrospective cohort (NSQIP) | Surgery | Before VTE protocol | 1569 | NR | NR |
| After VTE QI protocol | 1323 | NR | NR | |||||
| Bhatt et al31 | 2017 | Ireland | Retrospective cohort | General surgery | Control | 30 | 18 (60) | 61 ± 15 |
| Exercise program | 30 | 17 (57) | 61 ± 14 | |||||
| Silver et al38 | 2020 | US | Retrospective cohort | Medical (ischemic stroke) | Control (24 h bed rest) | 203 | 97 (52) | 72 ± 16 |
| 12 h bed rest | 189 | 87 (46) | 72 ± 16 | |||||
Note: Gr = Grade of mobilization, MI = myocardial infarction, NR = not reported, NSQIP = National Surgical Quality Improvement Program, POD = postoperative day, QI = quality improvement, RCT = randomized controlled trial, SD = standard deviation, THA = total hip arthroplasty, TKA = total knee arthroplasty, VTE = venous thromboembolism.
↵* Median (interquartile range).