WEDNESDAY, Oct. 12 (HealthDay News) -- Stroke patients function
better physically and are less likely to die if they undergo
treatment that pays special attention to fever, high blood sugar
and swallowing problems, new research suggests.
"Clinical leaders of stroke services can adopt this strategy with confidence that their outcomes will improve," Sandy Middleton, a professor at the Nursing Research Institute at St. Vincent's & Mater Health in Sydney, Australia, and colleagues wrote in the report in the Oct. 12 online edition of The Lancet.
The researchers noted that patients who recover in units devoted
to stroke care often experience fever (20 to 50 percent of
patients), high blood sugar (up to half of patients) and problems
swallowing (37 to 78 percent of patients) within the first few days
of a stroke. These conditions "are not yet universally well
managed," the study authors indicated.
In the study, Middleton and colleagues randomly assigned
patients at 19 stroke units in New South Wales, Australia, to
different types of treatment. Some followed existing guidelines,
while others adopted new protocols involving monitoring of fever
and high blood sugar plus treatment for the conditions. Nurses also
underwent special training to treat swallowing problems in the
patients.
Within 90 days, 42 percent of the 558 patients in the group that
received the special treatment were dead or considered to be
dependent, compared with 58 percent of the 449 patients who
received the existing treatment, the investigators reported.
Patients who received the special treatment also scored better
on a test of their physical functioning, the results showed.
Commenting on the study, Dr. James S. McKinney, assistant
professor of neurology at the University of Medicine and Dentistry
of New Jersey, said the results are "astounding."
"Stroke patients should be cared for at designated stroke centers that implement treatment protocols, such as those described by the authors," said McKinney, who had no role in the study. "It has never been more apparent that the type and quality of hospital stroke patients are admitted to impacts their recovery and functional outcome."
More information
For more about
stroke, visit the U.S. National Library of Medicine.