The effect of physical exercise on cardiopulmonary fitness in burn patients: A meta-analysis

Objective: Cardiopulmonary dysfunction in burn patients is typically caused by both the burn injury and smoke inhalation. Normally presenting with symptoms such as dyspnea, decreased exercise tolerance, decreased maximal heart rate, and decreased arterial oxygen saturation. It has been demonstrated that physical activity helps to increase cardiorespiratory fitness. The goal of this study was to determine whether physical activity can provide additional benefits to the recovery of cardiorespiratory fitness in burn patients by examining research on the topic of physical activity’s ability to enhance cardiorespiratory fitness in burn patients. Methods: The electronic databases Web of Science, PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library were searched from their inception until August 30, 2024. To contrast the efficacy of conventional rehabilitation with the benefits of physical exercise in conjunction with it. Revman 5.4 software was employed to conduct a meta-analysis, with peak oxygen consumption serving as the primary outcome indicator and the 6-minute walking test (6MWT), forced vital capacity (FVC)%, forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1)%, max heart rate (HRmax), and resting heart rate (RHR) serving as secondary outcome indicators. The literature’s risk of bias was evaluated using the Cochrane Collaboration tool. Results: A total of 13 studies were incorporated into the meta-analysis, which involved 530 patients. The study results demonstrated that physical exercise combined with conventional rehabilitation significantly improved VO2Peak (MD = 4.91, 95% CI: 3.52–6.29, P