Unfortunately, diseases of the cardiovascular system today are common even among the young part of the population. Statistics show that the prevalence of stroke is about 3-4 people per 1000 in Russia, which is quite a large indicator. How to recognize a stroke? Its symptoms and treatment. How long are in the hospital after a stroke?
Definition
A stroke is an acute and sudden violation of blood circulation in the brain, which leads to an irreversible disruption of the organ. There are two types of stroke - ischemic and hemorrhagic. The first is most often diagnosed in the elderly, while the second type is typical for populations under the age of 45 years.
Ischemic stroke, or cerebral infarction, develops when narrowing or clogging of important arteries that supply blood to the brain. His cells, deprived of the necessary oxygen, die.
Hemorrhagic stroke is a non-traumatic intracerebral hemorrhage in which arteries that feed the organ are injured.
How many are in the hospital with a stroke? Since the two varieties of the same disease are so radically different, their treatment is fundamentally different. The duration of the necessary treatment directly depends on the degree of brain damage.
Symptoms
How early it will be able to recognize the disease and seek the help of doctors depends on how many are in the hospital with a stroke. The first signs of the disease are usually as follows:
- numbness of the face or fingertips on the arms and legs;
- sharp and growing headache;
- "flies" before the eyes;
- nausea, vomiting;
- dizziness;
- loss of orientation in space;
- speech impairment.
In addition, the following symptoms are harbingers of stroke:
- Headache that often occurs when the weather changes.
- Dizziness, which intensifies with movement.
- A noise or ringing in the ears that may be permanent or intermittent.
- Sharp memory impairment, especially related to events in the recent past.
- Sleep disturbances.
Seek help from doctors also for chronic fatigue or a change in performance for the worse.
How to detect a stroke?
Doctors report that they have only 5 hours to save the life of a person affected by this disease. How many are in the hospital with a stroke? Treatment and recovery period are completely dependent on how timely the first aid was provided. Unfortunately, a person may not be aware that he has a stroke, so those around him should pay attention to such signs:
- If you ask a person to smile, then one side of the face will remain motionless, and the corner of the mouth lowered.
- When you try to raise both hands up, a person will be able to fulfill the request only partially - only one limb will rise.
- Speech can also be inhibited, you may notice a feeling of "cereal in the mouth" or a person's inability to say simple sentences or his own name.
In this case, you must immediately call the ambulance.
First aid
How much help is provided in a timely manner depends on how many are in the hospital with ischemic stroke. One of the most important points is considered not only to recognize the acute condition, and then call an ambulance, but also to provide all possible assistance to the patient. It consists of the following actions:
- If a person loses consciousness, you need to move him to the most convenient position.
- The head should be turned to one side so that the patient does not choke on his own vomit.
- It is important to monitor blood pressure in a person in order to inform their medical team.
Emergency doctors need to describe all the symptoms, as well as provide information about the person.
Resuscitation treatment
The intensive care unit is distinguished by the fact that all the necessary measures are carried out there to restore the functions of vital human organs. How many people are in the hospital after a stroke? The patient is in the intensive care unit, according to medical regulations, is 21 days. After that, a medical consultation is convened, which determines the patient's condition. In some cases, being in the intensive care unit can be extended up to 30 days or more.
Hospital treatment
After the person’s condition has been stabilized, he is transferred to the general medical department for rehabilitation treatment. How many days are there in a hospital with a stroke? The patient’s stay in hospital is calculated based on the severity of the injury. Often this period is from 90 days or 3 months.
This time is completely dependent on the following factors:
- Have motor functions recovered.
- Has consciousness or ability to clearly express one’s own thoughts or call for help recovered.
- Has cerebral edema decreased and how much blood circulation has recovered in the affected cerebral lobe.
- It is also noted that blood pressure and heart rate should normalize.
It is very important that at the time of transferring the patient from the intensive care unit, he could independently manage without an artificial lung ventilation apparatus, as well as eat the usual food.
Rehabilitation
How many are in the hospital after an ischemic stroke? If the treatment is successful, then the patient is discharged from the hospital after 3 months. After that, he will undergo rehabilitation on an outpatient basis. The option of recovering from a stroke in a rehabilitation center under the guidance of experienced specialists is also allowed.
The time to complete recovery after an ischemic stroke is from 2 to 5 months. However, some speech defects or motor coordination may remain impaired. The time of complete recovery of the body is calculated individually.
Principles of Therapy
After a patient with a stroke enters intensive care, the following tasks arise for doctors:
- Monitoring body temperature and preventing it from exceeding the threshold of 37.5. In this case, drugs based on paracetamol or other substances are introduced to reduce heat.
- The fight against acute headache, which occurs due to the lack of oxygen supply to the cerebral lobe, which was blocked by a blood clot during an ischemic stroke. For these purposes, drugs such as Ketanov, Tramadol, Ketoprofen are applicable.
- Administration of anticonvulsants, if indicated. Used drugs such as "Carbamazepine", "Gabapentin", "Topiramat."
- Maintaining water balance in the body is large by introducing a solution of sodium chloride in a drip way.
- Continuous monitoring of blood pressure.
- Monitoring the patient’s cardiac activity.
- Regular blood glucose measurements.
If necessary, a sick person is connected to a ventilator and food is introduced through a special probe.
Thrombolytic therapy is often used, due to which a blood clot in the brain dissolves by introducing a tissue plasminogen activator. A contraindication to the procedure is the age of more than 40 years, and also if more than 4.5 hours have passed since the acute onset of the disease.
A very important point is the elimination of cerebral edema by the introduction of diuretics. Fatal consequences such as congestive pneumonia, thromboembolism, thrombophlebitis, and infection of pressure sores should also be prevented. How many are in the hospital with a stroke? The patient should be discharged from the intensive care unit or the therapeutic department only after his vital functions have been restored.
Recovery period
The rehabilitation of a person who has had a stroke should begin immediately after transferring him from the intensive care unit. At first, gentle methods are used, such as light massage or passive gymnastics, later you need to connect the patient to perform some exercises.
Comprehensive therapy, which includes physiotherapeutic procedures, classes with psychiatrists, speech therapists and neuropsychologists, brings special results. Methods of restoring physical activity using simulators, including robotic ones, are also encouraged. Thus, a person can be re-taught to use their physiological capabilities. It should also be understood that a stroke causes irreparable damage to brain activity, which means it affects the psycho-emotional state, so the patient needs the support of relatives and friends.
How many days are in the hospital after a stroke? The process of patient rehabilitation is quite slow, so success can be expected only after several months of treatment and training with specialists. At the same time, a person will spend half of this time in a hospital, and the second half will follow the instructions of doctors at home.
Forecast
How much time are in the hospital with a stroke? The success of treatment depends not only on the competent actions of doctors, but also on the age of the patient, the vastness of the focus of brain damage. If the intellect of a sick person is preserved, then an important factor in rehabilitation therapy is the patient’s desire to live.
It should be noted that about 35% of stroke patients die within the first month, another 20% of patients within a year. Of the survivors, only 20% are able to return to their previous lives if the disease has not affected the vital parts of the brain and these people fully recover within a year. Also, 18% of survivors completely lose their ability to think and speak adequately, and 48% of patients lose their ability to move independently. Despite such disappointing statistics, an ischemic stroke prognosis of survival is much more favorable than a hemorrhagic one.