EARLY AMBULATION IN MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION

. Two series of patients were compared in an attempt to determine the role of early ambulation in the management of cases of myocardial infarction. The earlier series consisted of 108 patients (80 men, 28 women), the later of 146 (96 men, 50 women). In each series the patients were subdivided into two groups according to the severity of the infarction. In the earlier series the classification was made on the basis of serum enzyme changes, the leucocyte count, hypotension, temperature reaction, and prolonged chest pain. The later series was divided, on the basis of electrocardiographic changes, into intramural and transmural infarctions. In the earlier series the period of complete bed rest at the initial stage was 7 or 14 days and the hospital stay correspondingly 21 or 28 days according to the degree of severity determined at the early stage. In the later series bed rest lasted 3 or 7 days and hospitalization correspondingly 12 or 16 days depending upon whether the myocardial infarction was intramural or transmural. No significant differences were found when comparing the mortality in the series at 7 days and 30 days following the onset of infarction. The results are in favour of early ambulation and suggest that the appropriate length of stay may be shorter than generally stated in the literature.