ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Neurol.
Sec. Neurocritical and Neurohospitalist Care
Postoperative Early Ambulation in Neurosurgical Patients: Influencing Factors and Nursing Strategies
Provisionally accepted
- The Affiliated Suzhou Hospital of Nanjing University School of Medicine, Suzhou, China
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Background: Early postoperative ambulation holds significant implications for patient prognosis. The present study aims to analyze the implementation rate of early postoperative ambulation in neurosurgical patients, identify its independent influencing factors, and provide evidence-based support for optimizing clinical treatment and nursing interventions. Methods: The study population comprised neurosurgical patients admitted to a tertiary medical center in Jiangsu Province, China, between January 2024 and May 2025. Comprehensive perioperative data—encompassing baseline demographics and early postoperative ambulation status—were analyzed to identify influencing factors of early postoperative ambulation. Results: A total of 268 neurosurgical patients were included, among whom 85 (31.7%) achieved early postoperative ambulation. Correlation analyses demonstrated that age (r = -0.586), body mass index (BMI; r = -0.520), presence of a postoperative drainage catheter (r = -0.590), duration of surgery (r = -0.587), and postoperative Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) score (r = -0.614) all exhibited significant inverse associations with early postoperative ambulation. Logistic regression analysis identified five independent factors influencing early postoperative ambulation: age ≥ 60 years (odds ratio [OR] = 2.859, 95% confidence interval [95%CI]: 1.532~3.654), BMI ≥ 24 (OR = 2.194, 95%CI: 1.126~3.047), presence of a postoperative drainage catheter (OR = 2.706, 95%CI: 1.830~3.625), surgical duration ≥ 120 min (OR = 1.973, 95%CI: 1.285~2.585), and postoperative VAS score ≥ 3 (OR = 3.142, 95%CI: 2.869~3.704). Conclusion: The rate of early postoperative ambulation completion among neurosurgical patients is relatively low, with multiple factors influencing this outcome. Targeted nursing interventions are warranted to improve the implementation of postoperative ambulation in neurosurgical patients.
Keywords: postoperative early ambulation, neurosurgical patients, Influencing factors, Nursing intervention, clinical practice
Received: 15 Jul 2025; Accepted: 03 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Xu, Yin, Xia and Qian. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Xing Qian, p7q6d0@sina.com
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