Impact of Monitoring and Management of Physiological Parameters on Acute Ischaemic Stroke

Background and purpose of study: Considerable effort has been directed towards acute stroke research with numerous drug therapies being tried and tested. Monitoring and attempting to stabilize physiological parameters within normal limits were standard practice for acute stroke units. So the purpose of this study was designed to evaluate the effect of changes in these physiological parameters on acute ischemic stroke. Patients and Methods: The present study included 90 patients with acute ischemic stroke. They were randomly allocated to stroke care monitoring unit (SCMU) (50 patients) as group A, and conventional care unit (CU) (40 patients) as group B. The 2 groups were matched as regard; age, time window and initial clinical assessment using Scandinavian Stroke Scale (SSS) & Barthel Index (BI). The strategies to correct alteration on different physiological parameters were identical for both groups. Results: Patients who had hyperthermia, hypertension, hypotension, hyperglycemic and hypoxia at onset of ischemic stroke had significant low SSS & BI compared to patients with normal physiological parameters. SCMU patients had higher BI score and lower mortality rate than those in CU. The length of hospital stay was significantly shorter in patients admitted in SCMU compared with those of CU. Abnormal physiological parameters were frequently discovered and easily corrected in SCMU and was less likely to develop medical complications than those in CU. Conclusion: These findings confirm that monitoring and early correction of physiological parameters was feasible in acute ischaemic stroke patients. (Egypt J. Neurol. Psychiat. Neurosurg., 2006, 43(1): 451-459)