REHABILITATION CENTER FOR CHILDREN WITH HEART DISEASES

Rehabilitation Center for children with heart diseases (CRC) is the first specialized children’s rehabilitation center in Russia providing medical care to children after heart operations.
Postoperative rehabilitation is equally important, and often decisive in the success and effectiveness of surgical treatment of congenital heart and vascular diseases in children. The absence of a professionally organized stage of rehabilitation in many cases negates the success of unique cardiovascular surgeons who perform high-tech, extremely costly operations. To solve these problems we opened the Rehabilitation Center for children with heart diseases in “A.N. Bakulev NMRC for cardiovascular surgery” of the RF Ministry of Health.
On 15^th July 2014 the grand opening took place, and on 31^st August 2016 the Rehabilitation Center welcomed its first patients. Since the opening, more than 8,000 completed cases of successful rehabilitation have been recorded.

The main direction of clinical work is the complex rehabilitation of children from 1 to 18 years of age at various time after surgical repair of congenital heart diseases, including diagnostic examination, therapeutic nutrition, drug therapy, exercise therapy, physiotherapy methods and socio-psychological work.
After a comprehensive examination, an assessment of the rehabilitation potential, risks and factors limiting rehabilitation, each child hospitalized to the CRC is tailored an individual rehabilitation program aimed at reducing the risk of postoperative complications, stimulating the adaptive reserves of the body, improving the physical and psychological state, preventing cardiovascular events in the future, reducing disability and improving the quality of life.

The Rehabilitation Center develops comprehensive programs for the rehabilitation of children after the Fontan procedure, total repair of aortic coarctation, valvular heart diseases, anomalous origin of the coronary artery from the pulmonary artery (ACAPA), tetralogy of Fallot, etc. A new method of rehabilitation of children with CHD has been developed and put into practice- aqua-gymnastics. A program of psychological rehabilitation of early age children with CHD was approved, protocols for diagnostic examination for children of different age groups were developed and put into practice.
Due to these techniques, the level of physical health of children after CHD surgical repair increases, both in the group of simple and complex defects, the psychological status and their social adaptation improve. After surgery, children quickly return to an active high-quality life and begin to feel on a par with their peers.

Since 31st August, 2016 more than 8,000 children, residents of various regions of Russia and the CIS countries, have been rehabilitated at the Rehabilitation Center. There were no complications of rehabilitation.

The Rehabilitation Center staff includes: pediatric cardiologists (8), pediatricians (3), cardiosurgeon (1), doctor of functional diagnostics (1), doctors of ultrasound diagnostics (2), doctor of physical and rehabilitation medicine (1), neurologist (1), physical therapy doctors (2), physiotherapists (2), exercise therapy instructors (2), instructors-methodologists (3), medical psychologists (2), tutors (2).
Consultations of patients are also carried out by expert specialists of the FSBI “A.N. Bakulev NMRC CVS” of the RF MH. The capacity of the Rehabilitation Center is designed for 90 beds. The duration of stay is on average 14 days, if indicated, hospitalization can be prolonged. Medical assistance is provided free of charge at the expense of compulsory medical insurance.