The role of physiotherapy in intensive care units: a critical review

Abstract

Physiotherapy has been accepted as an integral part of critical care in developed countries. Preventing and managing pulmonary complications of ventilated and other critically ill patients is still considered to be the primary task of physiotherapists in India. As movement experts of the intensive care unit team, physiotherapists play a major role in preventing neuromuscular complications through early mobilization and therapeutic exercise prescription in the developed countries. This critical review analyses the physiological rationale behind the physiotherapeutic technique and existing research evidence pertaining to the role of physiotherapy in critical care. The paper also highlights the simple evidence-based protocol which was successfully implemented in a tertiary care hospital of India.