Effect of Early Mobilization on Hip and Lower Extremity Postoperative: A Literature Review

The incidence of fracture and surgery of the hip and lower extremities is still high. Long postoperative bed rest can potentially increase the incidence of various complications that may increase patients' morbidity and mortality rate after hip and lower extremities surgery. This literature review aimed to identify the effects of early mobilization on hip and lower extremity postoperative.

Search for articles on several databases such as ProQuest, ScienceDirect, CINAHL, Medline, Wiley Online, and Scopus, using the Boolean operator tools with "AND" and "OR" words by combining several keywords according to the literature review topic, with inclusion criteria of those published in the last three years (2019-2021), using a quantitative design, written in English and full-text articles. A total of 435 articles were obtained, screened, and reviewed so that there were 16 (sixteen) eligible articles.

There were 11 (eleven) effects of early mobilization, that is, shorter the length of stay, lower postoperative complication, lower the pain, increase walking ability, increase quality of life, decrease the rate of readmission, decrease mortality rate, lower the total hospitalization cost, higher number of physical therapy sessions prior to discharge, increase in satisfaction, and no fracture displacement or implant failure.

This literature review showed that early mobilization is safe and effective in postoperative patients to reduce the risk of complications and adverse events. Nurses and health workers who care for patients can implement early mobilization and motivate patients to cooperate in undergoing early mobilization.