Stroke Recovery Treatment: Methods and Effectiveness

A stroke is a serious health problem that involves different forms of treatment. But what are the options that patients have in terms of stroke recovery treatment?

Read on to learn more about how a stroke is treated, what the prognosis is, and how effective these forms of treatment are.

Stroke Recovery Treatment Methods

Stroke recovery treatment uses either medication, surgery, or a combination of both. The treatment can vary depending on the patient’s age, how healthy they are, and which part of the body had a stroke.

Please note that before treatment commences, the patient needs to undergo a brain scan first. This is to ensure that their condition is indeed stroke and not another condition that requires different management.

Medication

Patients recovering from a stroke are usually given different forms of medication. These are designed to treat the patient’s condition, as well as lower the risk of having a recurrence of the disease.

Medication is also usually prescribed for patients who have undergone surgery. This is because it helps lower the risk that the patient has a stroke in the future.

Thrombolysis

Thrombolysis is a procedure that uses a type of medicine to break down blood clots. It is primarily used to treat ischemic strokes. However, it’s most effective within about 4 hours after a patient has a stroke.

One important thing about thrombolysis is that patients need to undergo a brain scan before it can be done. The scan will help differentiate between an infarction and hemorrhage, which have distinct management strategies.

Anticoagulants

Anticoagulants are a type of medication that prevents blood cells from clumping or sticking together. This can help reduce the risk that patients will develop a blood clot. Some anticoagulants need to be taken daily, while others are only taken for short-term effects.

They can also be diagnosed if a patient has atrial fibrillation, a previous history of blood clots, or deep vein thrombosis.

Statins

Statins are typically prescribed for patients with high blood cholesterol levels. These are a type of medication designed to block a certain chemical in the liver that causes it to produce cholesterol.

Because strokes can be caused by cholesterol plaques or embolisms that become lodged into arteries that supply the brain, giving patients who have experienced a stroke in the past can help reduce the risk of future strokes.

Hypertension medication

If the patient has hypertension, or high blood pressure, then they will need to take medication for it. This is because having hypertension can increase a patient’s risk for having a stroke in the future.

Surgery

Here are some of the surgical procedures that can help treat a stroke:

Angioplasty

This is a procedure wherein a doctor inserts a small balloon into a narrow artery. Afterward, the doctor will “blow up” the balloon, which helps enlarge the vein. This procedure can help improve blood flow in the affected artery.

Carotid endarterectomy

Surgeons usually do this procedure if the patient has carotid stenosis. Carotid stenosis is the tightening or narrowing of the carotid artery. This artery is very important because it supplies blood directly to the brain. Having a blockage in the carotid artery can directly lead to an ischemic stroke.

However, this procedure can be risky, particularly for people with heart problems.

Clipping

Surgeons use clipping in order to prevent an aneurysm from bursting. As the name suggests, clipping uses clips to clamp down an aneurysm to stop the flow of blood. Once the flow of blood has stopped, the risk of the aneurysm bursting is minimized.

Coiling

Coiling is a procedure that uses small platinum coils to prevent an aneurysm from bursting. The procedure involves using a catheter to go up through the artery. Once there, the surgeon uses a tool to insert the small coils into the aneurysm.

What this does is it fills up the aneurysm and blocks the flow of blood. This helps prevent it from bursting.

Key Takeaways

These days, medical science has greatly advanced with regard to stroke recovery treatment. A stroke is still a serious illness, but it is no longer as deadly as it used to be.

However, it’s still important to try and stay healthy to prevent a stroke from happening in the first place.

Learn more about Strokes here.