OBJECTIVETo evaluate the safety and efficacy of exercise rehabilitation in coronary heart disease patients post reascularization procedure.

METHODWe searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CCRCT), Pubmed, Wanfang, CNKI, CBM and VIP database for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on exercise rehabilitation for patients with coronary artery disease post percutaneous coronary intervention revascularization or coronary artery bypass grafting. Quality assessment and data collection were conducted by two reviewers independently. The data were analyzed by Review Manager 5.0.

RESULTSA total of 3 474 patients from 16 RCTs were included in this meta-analysis and patients were divided into exercise rehabilitation group (n = 1 425) and control group (n = 2 049). Meta-analysis results showed mortality rate was similar between the two groups (OR = 0.81, 95%CI 0.38-1.69, P > 0.05) and the incidence of major cardiovascular events rate (OR = 0.40, 95%CI 0.24-0.65, P < 0.01) and heart rate [mean difference (MD) = -2.82, 95%CI -4.72--0.92, P < 0.01] were significantly lower while LVEF (MD = 2.24, 95%CI 0.18-4.31, P < 0.05), the exercise metabolic equivalent (MD = 0.94, 95%CI 0.43-1.44, P < 0.01) , anaerobic threshold (MD = 1.83, 95%CI 0.67-3.00, P < 0.01) , and maximum oxygen consumption (MD = 3.22, 95%CI 2.42-4.03, P < 0.01) were significantly higher in exercise rehabilitation group than in control group.

CONCLUSIONExercise rehabilitation does not increase the risk of mortality in patients of coronary heart disease after revascularization and can effectively reduce major cardiovascular events.