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Stroke

By Dr. Anand Kumar Saxena in Neurosciences

Nov 17 , 2025 | 1 min read

Stroke or lakwa is a neurological condition with long term disability and serious complications resulting from the effects due to brain involvement.

Timely treatment is important for managing a patient of stroke. Timely intervention to halt the disease process is a must. But, at the same time the hospital providing the basic and the further intensive care to the patients should satisfy a certain requirements. Today, on the occasion of World Stroke Day, Dr. Anand Saxena (Associate Director & HOD – Neurology) will try putting some light on the requirements a hospital must satisfy to be recognized as a stroke center or a stroke ready hospital.

First and foremost, the hospital should be easily accessible to the patient in terms of the time taken to reach the emergency room. The emergency room should ideally have point of care for specific investigations as per the case history.

The emergency room of the hospital should have an intensivist or a neurologist who can quickly identify a brain stroke patient. The nursing staff of the hospital should be trained for assessment of the patients and grade the disability using the standard NIHSS stroke scale.

After the initial contact in the emergency room, the hospital should have a facility for CT scan which helps classify the type of stroke. Since time is crucial, the process of getting a CT scan done and getting it read at the earliest is essential. Hence the hospital should have the radiology department working round the clock. The hospital should have facilities to ensure a quick transit of the patient to and from the radiology department.

The treatment of ischemic stroke, thrombolysis (clot busting therapy), generally requires a continuous monitoring of the patient. Also, the patient needs to be provided support to tide over any respiratory disturbances if present. Thus, the hospital must have a fully functional intensive care unit with personnel efficient in handling and managing patients. Post-treatment care of stroke patients helps a lot with respect to preventing early mortality. Apart from that, post-treatment care is essential to allow patients regain full functional independence. Thus, the hospital should also be able to provide a proper rehabilitatory care to the patients.

Remember, if you see a stroke patient, make sure you call the ambulance and rush the patient to the nearest stroke ready hospital to ensure a favorable outcome in the patient.

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