Acute care in stroke: the importance of early intervention to achieve better brain protection.

It is known that 'time is brain', and only early therapies in acute stroke have been effective, like thrombolysis within the first 3 h, and useful neuroprotective drugs are searched for that probably would be effective only with their very early administration. General care (respiratory and cardiac care, fluid and metabolic management, especially blood glucose and blood pressure control, early treatment of hyperthermia, and prevention and treatment of neurological and systemic complications) in acute stroke patients is essential and must already start in the prehospital setting and continue at the patient's arrival to hospital in the emergency room and in the stroke unit. A review of published studies analyzing the influence of general care on stroke outcome and the personal experience from observational studies was performed. Glucose levels >8 mmol/l have been found to be predictive of a poor prognosis after correcting for age, stroke severity, and stroke subtype. Although a clinical trial of glucose-insulin-potassium infusions is ongoing, increased plasma glucose levels should be treated. Moreover, insulin therapy in critically ill patients, including stroke patients, is safe and determines lower mortality and complication rates. Both high and low blood pressure levels have been related to a poor prognosis in acute stroke, although the target levels have not been defined yet in clinical trials. The body temperature has been shown to have a negative effect on stroke outcome, and its control and early treatment of hyperthermia are important. Hypoxemia also worsens the stroke prognosis, and oxygen therapy in case of <92% O(2) saturation is recommended. Besides, blood pressure stabilization avoiding falls of the diastolic pressure and the lowering of glycemia and temperature have been related to a better prognosis in stroke units patients, and homeostasis maintenance is associated with a better outcome. General care has become an emergent and first-line brain-protectant treatment that must be started at the prehospital level from the very beginning. This could help to save more brain tissue to get the best conditions for further specific stroke therapies such as the use of neuroprotective or thrombolytic drugs in the hospital. Copyright 2004 S. Karger AG, Basel