Goal of stroke treatment is to remove blockage or to arrest the leak, restore the normal blood flow and prevent or limit any damage.
Treatment of Ischemic Stroke
Goal for the treatment of ischemic stroke is to dissolve, remove, or shatter a blood clot that is preventing blood from reaching an area of the brain.
Intravenous TPA - Inject Tissue plasminogen activator (TPA intravenously into the bloodstream, the blood to the clot carries it and TPA breaks up the clot and normalizes the blood flow.
Important: It cannot give TPA to people after three hours of the onset of their symptom, if given it increases the risk of bleeding inside the brain.
Intra-Arterial Thrombolysis - Give this treatment for up to six hours after the onset of symptoms. A small catheter is inserts into the major blood vessels in the leg, and advances it precisely towards the brain with the help of a special video system. Reach the blood clot to its center and injecting TPA. TPA begins to dissolve the blood clot and normalizes the blood flow. This treatment requires special equipment and technical expertise, so it is only available in selected hospitals around the country.
The MERCI Retriever - The Mechanical Embolus Retrieval in Cerebral Ischemia is an approach to remove or break up blood clots. A special device is carefully insert into the blood vessel in the leg advances towards the brain where the blood clot is trap, the retriever catch and pulls it out, thus normalize the blood flow.
Surgical treatment for Ischemic Stroke
- Carotid endarterectomy is a surgical procedure mostly performed to remove the plaque blocking the carotid artery in the neck.
- Cerebral angioplasty is another technique uses balloons, stents, and coils to treat some types of problems with the blood vessels in the brain. It is widely used because of its safety and effectiveness.