Stroke Treatments

Early treatment can prevent or at least limit damage to the brain. Acting fast, treatment at the first symptoms of brain attack, can save your life and avoid damages.

Common stroke treatments are medications, hospital care, surgery and rehabilitation.

To treat an ischemic stroke, doctors must quickly restore blood flow to your brain. “Clot-busting” drugs must be given within 3 hours after a stroke to minimize damage.

Aspirin is the well proven treatment after a stroke to reduce the chances of having another stroke. After a stroke in the emergency room, most probably you'll be given a dose of aspirin. The dosage may vary, if you already taken a daily aspirin for its blood-thinning effect, you want to make a note of it in any convenient way, so that the doctors will know that you already had some aspirin.
Important when taking aspirin: If you are having a hemorrhagic stroke, taking aspirin could worsen the bleeding.

Other blood-thinning medicines, such as warfarin (Coumadin) and heparin also may be taken, still they are not as commonly used as aspirin.

Tissue plasminogen activator (tPA)
FDA has approved the clot-dissolving medicine tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) to treat strokes caused by blood clots. Statistic shows 85 percent of the strokes are callused by Blood clots. Tissue plasminogen activator dissolves the clot and restores blood flow to the brain. It has a risk of causing bleeding in the brain, when an expert doctor uses it properly its benefits outweigh the risks.

Not every stroke patient should be treated with tPA. So it is extremely important to determine the type of stroke very quickly for effective treatment only if given promptly. It will worsen the bleeding if given to hemorrhagic stroke. For maximum result, the medication must be started within three hours of the onset of stroke symptoms. So it is critical that medical professionals and the public recognize stroke as a medical emergency and respond quickly.

Carotid endarterectomy is a stroke treatment by surgery is commonly performed when the carotid artery in the neck is blocked by a fatty buildup called plaque. This surgical procedure can remove the accumulated plaque.

Cerebral angioplasty is another stroke treatment by surgery technique in which balloons, stents and coils are used to treat problems with the brain's blood vessels. Its widely used depends on its safety and effectiveness.

Treatment for hemorrhagic stroke depends upon the cause of the bleeding. Caused may be high blood pressure, use of anticoagulant medications, head trauma, blood vessel malformation. Patients are closely monitored during and after a hemorrhagic stroke. The initial care of a hemorrhagic stroke includes several steps:

Surgery may be used to treat a hemorrhagic stroke or prevent another stroke. The most common procedures are: aneurysm clipping and arteriovenous malformation (AVM) removal. Doctor may recommend these procedures only if you are at high risk of spontaneous aneurysm or AVM rupture:

Aneurysm clipping is done by placing a tiny clamp at the base of the aneurysm to isolate it from the circulation of the artery to which it is attached. This procedure can help to keep the aneurysm from bursting, or it can stop re-bleeding of an aneurysm that had recently hemorrhaged. The clip will fold in place permanently.

Coiling (aneurysm embolization) procedure is done by maneuvered a catheter into the aneurysm. Then a tiny coil is pushed through the catheter and positioned inside the aneurysm. In due coarse the coil fills the aneurysm, causing clot and sealing the aneurysm off from the connecting arteries.
    
Surgical AVM removal is not always possible to remove an AVM if it is too large or if it is located deep within the brain. But if a smaller AVM in an easily accessible location of the brain can be surgically removed can eliminate the risk of rupture, lowering the overall risk of hemorrhagic stroke.

Recovery and rehabilitation depend on the area of the brain involved and the amount of tissue damaged.

Treatment following a stroke includes rehabilitation therapies to restore function or help people relearn skills.  Physical, occupational, and speech therapy may be included, as well as psychological counseling.  Steps to prevent future problems should include smoking cessation, meal planning, physical activity, and medications to manage blood glucose, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels.