Timely action will minimise the impact of stroke, ‘brain attack,' and with the administration of an injection within three hours it would be possible to restore the patient's mobility. This was the message conveyed to doctors drawn from various places of southern districts at a workshop on stroke prevention and management organised at the Apollo Speciality Hospitals here on Friday.
S. Meenakshi Sundaram, senior neurologist of the hospital, spoke about four vital factors, FAST, to determine whether a patient had suffered a stroke. He explained to reporters on the sidelines of the workshop that a drooping face was an indicator of stroke.
If one of the arms was numb or the person experienced difficulty in raising both the hands up together, he should be shifted to a hospital. The third factor was slurred speech. The person should be asked to repeat a simple sentence to identify slur. Time was a very important factor in saving the brain and hence the patient should be shifted to hospital as early as possible.
An injection of tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) administered within three hours of the onset of stroke would help regain lost faculties, he said. Karthik of Department of Neurosciences said that the patient could be discharged in about three days, if the injection was administered. Though costly, the injection would bring down the medical expenses of stroke treatment considerably, he claimed.
The workshop included interactive lectures and drill.
