Stroke Care

Stroke is common, complicated to manage, and, until recently, remarkably neglected. Over the past 30 years, good evidence has emerged that thorough and organised care from teams of health professionals on stroke units leads to substantially fewer deaths and better recovery than other types of care. In fact, stroke medicine is emerging as a separate specialty for health professionals, creating a need for learning and training materials specifically designed to capture and pass on this expertise. Aimed at all the members of the stroke team, including doctors, nurses, stroke co-ordinators, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, and speech and language therapy members, this new edition provides a holistic approach to the care of patients with transient ischemic attacks (TIA) and stroke. It covers the wide range of knowledge and skills needed to tackle problems that may lead up to, or follow on from a stroke, and follows the course of a patient's journey from diagnosis to life at home, incorporating recent changes in the field and the latest clinical trials. It also covers the principles of rehabilitation, as well as secondary prevention, discharge planning, specific interventions, prognosis for various neurological deficits, and longer terms problems, including spasticity and psychiatric complications. New to this edition Substantial updating in management of TIA, imaging, acute care, rehabilitation and prevention Includes the latest clinical trials Substantial new chapter on longer term problems and their management, in keeping with the move to 'care closer to home' Rowan H. Harwood , Consultant Physician, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, UK, Farhad Huwez , Consultant Physician, Lead Stroke Services, Basildon and Thurrock University Hospital, Basildon, UK, and Dawn Good , Clinical Stroke Service Specialist, City Hospital, Nottingham, UK CONTENTS 1: Is it a stroke? 2: What to do in the first few days 3: The first two weeks 4: Subarachnoid haemorrhage 5: Neuroimaging in stroke 6: Making difficult decisions 7: Terminal care 8: Rehabilitation 9: Discharge 10: Preventing strokes and other vascular events 11: Outcomes and prognosis 12: Longer-term problems and their management Appendices