General Management of Acute Stroke

Sang-Bae Ko

doi:10.5124/jkma.2009.52.4.334

J Korean Med Assoc > Volume 52(4); 2009 > Article

Ko: General Management of Acute Stroke

Focused Issue of This Month

Acute Management of Stroke

Journal of the Korean Medical Association

Journal of the Korean Medical Association 2009; 52(4): 334-339.

Published online: April 30, 2009

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5124/jkma.2009.52.4.334

General Management of Acute Stroke

Sang-Bae Ko, MD

Department of Neurology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Korea. sangbai1378@gmail.com

Abstract

Prompt diagnosis and appropriate treatment is most important process in managing patients with acute stroke. The acute stroke treatment can be categorized as a specific treatment and general management. Specific treatment, including antithrombotic treatment or thrombolysis therapy, needs to be modified in individual patients. However, general management deals with common problems such as elevated blood pressure, high glucose level, respiratory difficulty, or fever, and those problems are commonly encountered in treating patients with acute stroke. This paper presents up-to-date recommendations for treating acute stroke with review of literatures.

Acute stroke; General management; Hypertension; Glucose; Fever

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Table 1

Immediate diagnostic studies: evaluation of a patient with suspected acute ischemic stroke

^*Although it is desirable to know the results of these tests before giving rtPA, thrombolytic therapy should not be delayed while awaiting the results unless. (1) there is clinical suspicion of a bleeding abnormality or thro-mbocytopenia, (2) the patient has received heparin or warfarin, or (3) use of anticoagulants is not known.

Table 2

The ideal treatment of hypertension in patients with intracerebral hemorrhage

(Adopted from a guideline of American stroke association 2007)