OBJECTIVES: Upper crossed syndrome (UCS) can exert adverse effects on rehabilitation after a coronary artery bypass graft (CABG). Hence, the present study aimed to investigate the effects of stretching exercises on UCS in women undergoing CABG. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present quasi-experimental study was carried out on 30 women in Shahid Madani hospital of Tabriz, Iran. According to a similar study, the participants were selected through a convenience sampling method and randomly assigned to two groups of A and B. Those in group A participated in an 8-week intervention of stretching exercises (3 sessions per week) in accordance with the existing protocol. The data were statistically analyzed using analysis of covariance, the dependent t test, and the Wilcoxon test at the significance level of 0.05. RESULTS: The results indicated a significant difference between the two groups in terms of kyphosis angle (p = 0.001) and forward head angle (p = 0.019) after the intervention. The data analysis also showed that stretching exercises had no significant effect on the improvement of angles of left and right shoulders (p = 0.109 and p = 0.111) respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The study findings suggest that corrective and stretching exercises might improve head forward posture and kyphosis angle, but do not affect shoulder angle.

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