BACKGROUND: Postoperative pulmonary complications (PPCs) are associated with a higher risk of morbidity and mortality in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. We aimed to investigate the effect of preoperative interventions on PPCs and length of intensive care unit and hospital stay in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. METHODS: A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted on randomized or quasi-randomized trials by searching PubMed, Medline, ISI Web of Science, Science Direct, Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro), and the Cochrane Library for all available years until December 2023. Our primary outcomes were PPCs including atelectasis and Pneumonia and secondary outcomes were length of intensive care unit and hospital stay. RESULTS: Twenty-one included trials provide data on 2895 participants. The preoperative intervention of inspiratory muscle training (IMT) significantly reduced the PPCs including atelectasis (OR 0.49, 95% CI 0.28 to 0.86) and Pneumonia (OR 0.41, 95% CI 0.25 to 0.67) in cardiac patients compared with the control group. Preoperative exercise training intervention is significantly associated with a lower risk (OR 0.15, 95% CI 0.06 to 0.38) of composite PPCs (ie, atelectasis and Pneumonia) in the intervention group. Preoperative IMT significantly reduced the postoperative hospital stay by -1.57 days (95% CI -2.33 to -0.81) in the intervention group. Preoperative exercise training significantly decreased the postoperative intensive care unit stay by -2.22 hours (95% CI -3.05 to -1.38) and hospital stay by -1.82 days (95% CI -3.38 to -0.27) in the intervention group. CONCLUSION: Preoperative intervention of IMT and exercise training significantly reduce PPCs and hospital stay in patients undergoing cardiac surgery.

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