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Julie Reeve

Auckland University of Technology New Zealand

Julie Reeve is a Senior Lecturer in Physiotherapy at Auckland University of Technology and contributes to undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. She has worked extensively in Major Surgery and Intensive Care and completed her PhD investigating the physiotherapy management of patients undergoing thoracic surgery. Her teaching and research has primarily focussed on the physiotherapy management of the patient undergoing major surgery and acute and critical illness. Her ongoing research interests include preoperative physiotherapy education and prehabilitation for patients undergoing major surgery, rehabilitation following acute and critical illness and rehabilitation following a diagnosis of cancer. She is a reviewer for several medical and physiotherapy journals, has reviewed grant submissions for several bodies and has been an editorial board member for the NZ Journal of Physiotherapy and the International Journal of Therapy and Rehabilitation.

1chapters authored

Chapters authored

Physiotherapy Following Emergency Abdominal Surgery

By Kate Sullivan, Julie Reeve, Ianthe Boden and Rebecca Lane

Physiotherapy following elective abdominal surgery has been well documented, but following emergency abdominal surgery, despite poorer outcomes and increased complication rates, physiotherapy interventions for this patient group remain largely uninvestigated. The most common complication following upper abdominal surgery is the development of a post-operative pulmonary complication (PPC). Risk factors for the development of PPCs include duration of anaesthesia, emergency upper abdominal surgery, current smoker status, respiratory comorbidities, obesity, increased age and multiple surgeries. Physiotherapy interventions aim to prevent or remediate PPCs and post-operative complications associated with the sequelae of immobility such as venothrombotic events and to facilitate recovery from surgery and a return to normal activities of daily living and function. Physiotherapy interventions after major surgery include early mobilisation and respiratory physiotherapy techniques. Respiratory therapies include deep breathing and coughing exercises, positive expiratory pressure devices, incentive spirometry and non-invasive ventilation. Early mobilisation has been demonstrated to be safe and efficacious following elective abdominal surgery and for patients who are critically ill. This chapter reviews the evidence in these populations and propose that, until further studies are available to direct care, this evidence is extrapolated to patients following emergency abdominal surgery. As abdominal surgery impacts on physical recovery and health-related quality of life, post-discharge rehabilitation programmes may improve long-term outcomes; however, rehabilitation following major cavity surgery is in its infancy. This chapter investigates post-operative rehabilitation research to date in this population in an attempt to determine the effectiveness of such programmes and make recommendations for future practice.

Part of the book: Actual Problems of Emergency Abdominal Surgery

Related collaborators

Paul Neary

Ianthe Boden

Launceston General Hospital , United Kingdom

Elroy Weledji

University of Buea , Cameroon

Obinna Obinwa

Trinity College Dublin , Ireland

Andrei Beliaev

Auckland District Health Board , New Zealand

David Cooper

Trinity College Dublin , Ireland

James O'Riordan

Michael Booth

North Shore Hospital , New Zealand

Kate Sullivan

Monash University , Australia

Rebecca Lane

Monash University , Australia