The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of early passive cycling exercise on quadriceps femoris thickness (QFT) in critically ill patients admitted in the intensive care unit (ICU) of a tertiary care university hospital. A controlled randomized pilot study was conducted with a sample of 24 patients (51 +/- 18.11 years, 16 male), on mechanical ventilation (MV) from 24 to 48 hours, who were randomly divided into two groups: control group (n = 12), receiving conventional physical therapy; and an intervention one (n = 12), receiving passive cycle ergometer, once a day, throughout seven days of protocol, in addition to conventional physical therapy. The QFT was measured by ultrasonography. The first ultrasonographic measurement was performed within 48 hours after the start of MV, and the second at the end of the protocol. There were no significant differences in QFT of the left (27.29 +/- 5.86 mm versus 25.95 +/- 10.89 mm; p = 0.558) and right (24.96 +/- 5.59 mm versus 25.9 +/- 9.21 mm; p = 0.682) in the control group, and in QFT of the left (27.2 +/- 7.38 mm versus 29.57 +/- 7.89 mm; p = 0.299) and right (26.67 +/- 8.16 mm versus 28.65 +/- 8.04 mm; p = 0.381) in the intervention group. There were no significant between groups differences for left QFT (3.61 +/- 1.07 mm; p = 0.248) and right QFT (2.75 +/- 0.85 mm; p = 0.738). The results of this pilot study demonstrate that application of early passive cycle ergometer exercises has not significantly change the muscle layer thickness. However, our findings indicate that conventional physical therapy is able to preserve the quadriceps femoris thickness in critically ill patients admitted in ICU.

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