Stroke treatment programme

Stroke is a condition that describes the interruption of the blood supply to part of the brain. It is an emergency medical condition that may threaten the life of the person who suffers it. The sooner the people around the injured person call an ambulance or go to the emergency department in the hospital, the fewer possible complications such as brain damage or loss of life.

What is the treatment of stroke?

Strokes are the fifth cause of death around the world, according to statistics from the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and they are a dangerous condition because they cause the loss of oxygen and blood to brain tissue, which may cause emergency complications that may lead to death.

There are some risk factors that increase the possibility of strokes, including:

• Heavy smoking.
• Excessive drinking of alcohol.
• Arterial disease.
• Lack of control of blood pressure and blood glucose levels.
• Having a strong family history of blood clots and strokes.
• Symptoms of stroke.

Ischemia (lack of blood flow) damages brain cells and tissue, and stroke symptoms often appear in the parts of the body controlled by the affected area of ​​the brain.

Promptly obtaining medical care in the event of a stroke helps prevent complications, so everyone should know the symptoms of a stroke so that they can save the lives of others in a timely manner. These symptoms include:

• Feeling numb or weak in the arm, leg, or face, often on one side of the body.
• Speech disorders and difficulty understanding the speech of others.
• Decreased vision in one or both eyes, with the possibility of double vision.
• Loss of balance while moving.
• Suffering from a sudden and violent headache without a noticeable cause, which may be accompanied by vomiting or severe dizziness, and may even lead to loss of consciousness.

When you notice any of these symptoms in someone around you, do not hesitate to call the unified ambulance number in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, “997,” to receive the necessary medical care and treat the stroke in a timely manner.

It is necessary to treat a stroke as quickly as possible before any of the following complications occur:

-Brain damage.
- Complete paralysis.
- Death.
- Types of stroke

This type represents about 85% of the total number of cases of stroke, so it is the most common type.

People suffer from an ischemic (or embolic) stroke due to blockage of the blood vessels that supply the brain with blood, oxygen, and nutrients. When the level of oxygen to the brain decreases, its tissues and cells die within a few minutes.

Note: The blood vessels that supply the brain become blocked due to two reasons:

• Formation of blood clots.
• Deposition of layers of fat and cholesterol inside the blood vessels.

Hemorrhagic stroke results from blood bleeding inside the brain. When blood pressure rises inside the blood vessels, their walls expand and weaken.

A simple example to illustrate: When the balloon is filled with air, its wall expands and becomes thin, and when the pressure inside it increases, it explodes. This is exactly what happens when the walls of blood vessels expand.

Hemorrhagic stroke can be classified into two types according to where the bleeding occurs, as follows:

1- Intracerebral hemorrhage: It is the most common type of hemorrhagic stroke, and it affects people as a result of the explosion of an artery in the brain and the leakage of blood into the surrounding tissues.
2- Subarachnoid hemorrhage: In this type of hemorrhagic stroke, bleeding occurs in the area between the brain and the soft tissue that covers it.

1- Intracerebral hemorrhage: It is the most common type of hemorrhagic stroke, and it affects people as a result of the explosion of an artery in the brain and the leakage of blood into the surrounding tissues.
2- Subarachnoid hemorrhage: In this type of hemorrhagic stroke, bleeding occurs in the area between the brain and the soft tissue that covers it.

If we look closely at the previous paragraphs, we will find that there are multiple warning signs that indicate a stroke, and that strokes are classified into many types. So, how can the problem of stroke be diagnosed?

1- Clinical examination

The doctor conducts some clinical examinations, such as listening to the heartbeat with a stethoscope and measuring the blood pressure level, in addition to asking the patient about the symptoms he is experiencing.

2- Comprehensive blood tests

The doctor requests a comprehensive blood analysis to determine the level of sugar and cholesterol in it, in addition to determining the speed of blood clotting.

3- Imaging tests of the brain

If the symptoms of a stroke are very clear to the patient, this does not negate the importance of performing imaging tests performed on the brain, as these tests help determine:

type of stroke;
Determine the affected part of the brain and the amount of damage to that part to classify the severity of the stroke.

Imaging tests done to get a detailed picture of the brain include:

• CT scan
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

All of these tests provide accurate results that help the doctor determine the location of the damage to parts of the brain, and then begin the stroke treatment journey in the appropriate manner according to the type of stroke and the results of the tests.

Stroke treatment depends on identifying its main cause, which is either the occurrence of a blood clot that blocks the arteries in the brain, or the occurrence of a cerebral hemorrhage resulting from the aneurysm and explosion of blood vessels.

If the stroke is ischemic (resulting from a stroke), its treatment is as follows:

1- Use of clot-dissolving medications:

Because a stroke is an emergency, as we previously mentioned, treatment should begin immediately through intravenous injections using clot-dissolving medications, in order to break up strokes and restore efficient blood flow and oxygen to the brain.

• Caution: Treatment should be started immediately after symptoms appear, as the earlier the treatment is, the greater the patient’s chances of surviving the complications of stroke.
  It is necessary to perform brain imaging tests to confirm that the stroke is indeed caused by a vascular occlusion.
  Resection of stroke

2- Treating stroke resulting from blood clots by removing the clot from the blocked blood vessel.

Here is some information about how to treat strokes through ablation:

Doctors resort to this method to remove blood clots in cases of severe ischemic strokes, especially if the clot is in a large artery in the brain.
Thrombectomy helps restore normal blood flow and oxygen to the brain.
Thrombectomy involves inserting an arterial catheter through a blood vessel in the groin, then accessing the affected artery in the brain to remove the clot through a specialized device.
This operation is performed under general or local anesthesia, depending on the patient's condition.

Clot-dissolving medications help treat stroke permanently, as they work to get rid of the main cause of stroke, which is arterial blockage.

It is not possible to give a definitive answer regarding the duration of treatment for stroke resulting from clots, and some patients may need rehabilitation after receiving treatment in the emergency by staying in the hospital under medical care for a period ranging between five to seven days.

Transient ischemic attack (TIA) is one of the types of ischemic stroke. This type is characterized by its short duration - as is clear to us from the word “transient” - as the duration of the symptoms of this stroke does not exceed approximately 5 minutes.

Before learning about the methods of treating a mild or transient stroke, you should know some information:

- Transient ischemic stroke (TIA) is a warning sign indicating the possibility of a stroke in the future. Statistics indicate that approximately 10% to 15% of people with a TIA will suffer a stroke within approximately three months to a year.
A transient ischemic stroke requires urgent medical care just like a regular ischemic stroke.
- Treating a mild (transient) stroke in a timely manner helps prevent ischemic strokes in the future.

Treatment for mild stroke includes the use of thrombolytics intravenously, and the effectiveness of treatment increases the sooner it begins after signs of a stroke begin to appear.

Patients often need a rehabilitation program after recovering from the underlying cause of the stroke, as a stroke may affect the efficiency of speech or movement, so Al Mousa Specialist Hospital provides an integrated program to support those recovering from a stroke  with all rehabilitation services under the supervision of an elite group of specialized and trained doctors.

The program's services include continuous medical follow-up for patients, speech programs to treat speech difficulties, in addition to physical therapy and motor rehabilitation services.