Early pulmonary rehabilitation

Abstract

Early rehabilitation is an acute inpatient treatment during or shortly after an acute disease and is anchored in §39 of the Social Security Statutes (SGB) V. The aim of early rehabilitation is to reduce or minimize the impairments in body function, to improve the ability to cope with daily life in order to ultimately achieve integration of the patient in society. Early pulmonary rehabilitation is generally carried out after successful weaning, whereas for neurological patients ventilator weaning is part of the early rehabilitative treatment. Pulmonary rehabilitation optimizes the complete course of treatment of severely ill patients from the intensive care/weaning unit via the early rehabilitation up to the outpatient aftercare and therefore closes a gap in the course of treatment.