Background and Purpose—The authors present an overview of the current evidence and management recommendations for evaluation and treatment of adults with acute ischemic stroke. The intended audienc...

/pdf/guidelines-for-the-early-management-of-patients-with-acute-19udbft6e7.pdf

Guidelines for the Early Management of Patients With Acute Ischemic Stroke A Guideline for Healthcare Professionals From the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association

Background and Purpose- The purpose of these guidelines is to provide an up-to-date comprehensive set of recommendations in a single document for clinicians caring for adult patients with acute arterial ischemic stroke. The intended audiences are prehospital care providers, physicians, allied health professionals, and hospital administrators. These guidelines supersede the 2013 Acute Ischemic Stroke (AIS) Guidelines and are an update of the 2018 AIS Guidelines. Methods- Members of the writing group were appointed by the American Heart Association (AHA) Stroke Council's Scientific Statements Oversight Committee, representing various areas of medical expertise. Members were not allowed to participate in discussions or to vote on topics relevant to their relations with industry. An update of the 2013 AIS Guidelines was originally published in January 2018. This guideline was approved by the AHA Science Advisory and Coordinating Committee and the AHA Executive Committee. In April 2018, a revision to these guidelines, deleting some recommendations, was published online by the AHA. The writing group was asked review the original document and revise if appropriate. In June 2018, the writing group submitted a document with minor changes and with inclusion of important newly published randomized controlled trials with >100 participants and clinical outcomes at least 90 days after AIS. The document was sent to 14 peer reviewers. The writing group evaluated the peer reviewers' comments and revised when appropriate. The current final document was approved by all members of the writing group except when relationships with industry precluded members from voting and by the governing bodies of the AHA. These guidelines use the American College of Cardiology/AHA 2015 Class of Recommendations and Level of Evidence and the new AHA guidelines format. Results- These guidelines detail prehospital care, urgent and emergency evaluation and treatment with intravenous and intra-arterial therapies, and in-hospital management, including secondary prevention measures that are appropriately instituted within the first 2 weeks. The guidelines support the overarching concept of stroke systems of care in both the prehospital and hospital settings. Conclusions- These guidelines provide general recommendations based on the currently available evidence to guide clinicians caring for adult patients with acute arterial ischemic stroke. In many instances, however, only limited data exist demonstrating the urgent need for continued research on treatment of acute ischemic stroke.

Guidelines for the Early Management of Patients With Acute Ischemic Stroke: 2019 Update to the 2018 Guidelines for the Early Management of Acute Ischemic Stroke: A Guideline for Healthcare Professionals From the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.

Background— Pneumonia is an important complication of ischemic stroke and increases mortality 3-fold. Five guidelines recommend a dysphagia screen before oral intake. What constitutes an adequate dysphagia screen and which patients should receive it remain unclear. Methods— Fifteen acute care institutions prospectively collected data on all admitted patients with acute ischemic stroke. Sites were required to collect data on demographics and 4 quality indicators. Optional data included stroke severity and complications. We measured adherence to a screen for dysphagia, the type of screen, and development of in-hospital pneumonia. Results— Between December 2001 and January 2003, 2532 cases were collected. In-hospital complications were recorded on 2329 (92%) of cases. Stroke severity was captured on 1361 (54%). Adherence to a dysphagia screen was 61%. Six sites had a formal dysphagia screen, and their adherence rate was 78% compared with 57% at sites with no formal screen. The pneumonia rate at sites with a ...

Formal Dysphagia Screening Protocols Prevent Pneumonia

Background and Purpose— Acute-onset dysphagia after stroke is frequently associated with an increased risk of aspiration pneumonia. Because most screening tools are complex and biased toward fluid swallowing, we developed a simple, stepwise bedside screen that allows a graded rating with separate evaluations for nonfluid and fluid nutrition starting with nonfluid textures. The Gugging Swallowing Screen (GUSS) aims at reducing the risk of aspiration during the test to a minimum; it assesses the severity of aspiration risk and recommends a special diet accordingly. Methods— Fifty acute-stroke patients were assessed prospectively. The validity of the GUSS was established by fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing. For interrater reliability, 2 independent therapists evaluated 20 patients within a 2-hour period. For external validity, another group of 30 patients was tested by stroke nurses. For content validity, the liquid score of the fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing was compared with t...

Dysphagia Bedside Screening for Acute-Stroke Patients The Gugging Swallowing Screen

National Clinical Guidelines for Stroke. Intercollegiate Working Party for Stroke, Royal College of Physicians. (Pp 150; £15.95.) Lavenham Press, 2000. ISBN 1-86016-120-0.\***|

Stroke is a common problem, being the third cause of mortality in the UK and the leading cause of adult disability with a resultant significant cost burden to the NHS and social services. The guidelines highlight the wide national variation in the implementation of evidence based practice as seen in the Stroke Association's National Survey and the Royal College of Physicians …

https://pmj.bmj.com/content/postgradmedj/77/906/286.9.full.pdf

National Clinical Guidelines for Stroke.

We conducted a systematic literature review and analysis of programs for evaluating swallowing in order to prevent aspiration pneumonia. This article derives from an evidence report on diagnosis and treatment of swallowing disorders (dysphagia) in acute-car stroke patients prepared by us as an Evidence-based Practice Center (EPC) under contract to the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Available evidence on the diagnosis and treatment of dysphagia for preventing pneumonia is limited. We found reported pneumonia rates in one historical controlled study of a program using bedside exams (BSE) for acute stroke patients; one uncontrolled case series study of acute stroke patient- reporting of swallowing difficulty; one controlled case series study of videofluoroscopic study of swallowing (VFSS) for acute stroke patients; and one historical controlled study of fiberoptic endoscopic examination of swallowing (FEES) for patients referred for swallowing evaluation in rehabilitation centers. Comparing these results with historical controls indicates that implementation of dysphagia programs is accompanied by substantial reductions in pneumonia rates. While all these methods appeared effective, the small sizes of available studies did not allow determination of the relative efficacy of BSE, VFSS, or FEES.

Prevention of Pneumonia in Elderly Stroke Patients by Systematic Diagnosis and Treatment of Dysphagia: An Evidence-Based Comprehensive Analysis of the Literature

A meta-analysis was performed on the results of eight studies that compared the global outcomes of patients who received carpal tunnel release with the global outcomes of patients who received carpal tunnel release and neurolysis or epineurotomy. The meta-analysis suggests that patients who received such neural surgery tended to have poorer global outcomes than those who did not (odds ratio, 0.54; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.32 to 0.90). The data are homogenous, and linear-regression analysis indicates that patient attrition did not influence the outcome of the meta-analysis. The results of this meta-analysis indicate that neural surgery is potentially harmful for most patients with carpal tunnel syndrome. The possibility remains that neural surgery may be helpful in special cases, such as in the presence of marked scarring or neural adhesion, but no available evidence specifically documents the benefits and harms of surgery among such patients.

Poor outcome for neural surgery (epineurotomy or neurolysis) for carpal tunnel syndrome compared with carpal tunnel release alone: a meta-analysis of global outcomes.

Richard Chapell

Papers

Prevention of Pneumonia in Elderly Stroke Patients by Systematic Diagnosis and Treatment of Dysphagia: An Evidence-Based Comprehensive Analysis of the Literature

Poor outcome for neural surgery (epineurotomy or neurolysis) for carpal tunnel syndrome compared with carpal tunnel release alone: a meta-analysis of global outcomes.