Rehabilitation Medicine

The Department of Rehabilitation Medicine was established in 1952. Its distinctive clinical diagnostic and treatment specialties include rehabilitation of the cardiopulmonary organs, critical-care rehabilitation, rehabilitation for musculoskeletal pain and sports injuries, postoperative orthopedic rehabilitation, rehabilitation related to pregnancy, childbirth, and the pelvic floor, and neurological rehabilitation. It is one of the relatively early-established and larger departments of rehabilitation medicine in China, integrating medical care, teaching, and research. With the formation of the hospital’s new development pattern of “three campuses and one branch,” the department has continued to expand in scale and strictly implements homogeneous management across multiple campuses. The department has distinctive clinical diagnostic and treatment features, a complete range of rehabilitation subspecialties, and advanced equipment, including cardiopulmonary exercise testing and training systems, isokinetic muscle-strength assessment and training systems, balance assessment and training systems, rehabilitation robots, overhead-track walking-training systems, virtual-reality rehabilitation systems, and other equipment. It comprehensively provides neurological rehabilitation, postoperative orthopedic rehabilitation, sports-injury rehabilitation, cardiac rehabilitation, respiratory rehabilitation, rehabilitation for obesity and metabolic diseases, cancer rehabilitation, geriatric rehabilitation, rehabilitation related to pregnancy, childbirth, and the pelvic floor, pediatric rehabilitation, psychological rehabilitation, and more. The department has established a rehabilitation medicine ward at the Shunyi Campus. Focusing on rehabilitation in the early and acute stages of disease as well as rehabilitation for difficult and critically ill cases, it is committed to creating internationally advanced and nationally leading integrated clinical rehabilitation platforms for musculoskeletal pain and sports-injury rehabilitation, exercise rehabilitation for chronic cardiopulmonary diseases, and other areas.

Clinical features

⑴ Geriatric rehabilitation: For various acute and chronic diseases in older adults, including cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases (coronary heart disease, stroke, hypertension, etc.), pulmonary diseases (chronic bronchitis, cor pulmonale, etc.), diabetes, osteoarticular diseases, various acute and chronic inflammatory conditions and nonspecific inflammation, and various types of pain, the department uses comprehensive rehabilitation treatment modalities such as physical therapy, occupational therapy, cognitive and psychological therapy, and speech and swallowing therapy to provide patients with geriatric diseases with comprehensive medical rehabilitation services.

⑵ Organ rehabilitation: This includes cardiopulmonary rehabilitation, renal rehabilitation, and rehabilitation for obesity and diabetes-related metabolic diseases. Cardiac rehabilitation: The department is a National Standardized Cardiac Rehabilitation Center and a National Standardized Training Base for Specialist Nurses/Rehabilitation Therapists in Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation. It is also the first rehabilitation medicine department in Beijing to conduct cardiac rehabilitation using an MDT model. It has established a digital cardiac rehabilitation assessment and treatment system guided by cardiopulmonary exercise testing and uses scientific exercise prescriptions to guide patients in exercising safely and effectively.

Weight-loss and metabolic rehabilitation: The department was the earliest rehabilitation medicine department in Beijing to undertake weight-loss rehabilitation. Together with the departments of general surgery, endocrinology, nutrition, and others, it established a multidisciplinary “Weight-loss and Metabolic Disease Diagnosis and Treatment Center” to provide care for obesity-related diseases (such as heart disease, diabetes, metabolic-associated fatty liver disease, etc.), as well as postoperative weight management and functional rehabilitation after weight-loss surgery for severe obesity. It established a digital assessment and rehabilitation system for exercise-based weight loss guided by motor function and cardiopulmonary exercise testing, achieving effective weight management and the improvement and reversal of functional impairments associated with obesity-related diseases.

⑶ Rehabilitation for musculoskeletal pain and sports injuries: Using digital posture assessment, FMS (Functional Movement Screen) functional movement screening, and the SFMA (Selective Functional Movement Assessment) functional movement assessment system, and integrating joint mobilization, Italian fascial therapy, American-style chiropractic manipulation, and the MTT medical exercise rehabilitation system, the department widely provides subspecialty rehabilitation for postoperative orthopedic conditions, orthopedic trauma, spinal and osteoarticular diseases (including lumbar disc herniation, cervical spondylosis, frozen shoulder, knee osteoarthritis, etc.), sports injuries (including anterior cruciate ligament injuries, foot and ankle injuries, rotator cuff injuries, hip-joint impingement, etc.), muscle and soft-tissue pain, abnormal posture and scoliosis, and other conditions.

⑷ Rehabilitation related to pregnancy, childbirth, and the pelvic floor: The department has a systematic and scientific assessment and treatment system for rehabilitation related to pregnancy, childbirth, and the pelvic floor, covering various pain conditions and functional disorders before and after childbirth and following surgery: manual pelvic realignment techniques and restoration of pelvic stability; assessment and rehabilitation of pelvic-floor dysfunction (stress urinary incontinence / organ prolapse / perineal pain / decreased quality of sexual life); assessment and treatment of postpartum rectus abdominis diastasis; assessment and rehabilitation of neck, shoulder, lower-back, and back pain related to pregnancy and childbirth; postpartum postural correction and adjustment; postpartum body contouring and weight loss; psychological guidance and treatment during pregnancy and the perinatal period; and other services.

The department currently has a team of 64 members, including 14 physicians, 42 therapists, and 8 nurses. Across the department, 10 members have doctoral degrees and 32 have master’s degrees. There is 1 doctoral-student supervisor and 1 master’s-student supervisor. There is 1 professor and 1 associate professor. The department has successively obtained approval or funding for research projects including the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Beijing Natural Science Foundation, the Capital Medical Development Fund, the Capital Clinical Specialty Research Project, the Capital Medical University Basic–Clinical Cooperation Project, and major projects of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Science and Technology. Its members have been selected for talent programs including the Beijing “215” High-Level Health Technical Talent Program, the Beijing Qingmiao Talent Program, the Beijing Outstanding Talent Backbone Program, the Haidian District Leading Talent Program, and the Friendship Hospital “Seed Program.” The department has received the Science and Technology Progress Award of the Ministry of Health of China, the Second Prize for Science and Technology Progress from the Beijing Municipal Health Commission, the First Prize for Science and Technology Progress from the Beijing Municipal Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and other awards, and has obtained invention patents granted by the State Patent Office. It has published more than 100 high-quality research papers; served as chief editor or contributing editor for a total of 35 rehabilitation medicine books; translated 4 English-language books into Chinese and reviewed them; produced 12 Chinese translations of foreign-language literature; compiled more than 10 teaching handouts and textbooks; and compiled 6 professional foreign-language textbooks. Over the years, department members have served as chairpersons, vice chairpersons, and in other positions in organizations including the Society of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation of the Chinese Medical Association, the Chinese Association of Rehabilitation Medicine, and the Beijing Association of Rehabilitation Medicine. They have organized domestic academic conferences in the fields of rehabilitation medicine and physiotherapy on many occasions and conducted international exchanges and cooperation through multiple channels, contributing to the development of rehabilitation medicine in China.