The effect of starting time of rehabilitation on functional recovery of patient with ischemic stroke

Objective To observe the effect of starting time of rehabilitation on functional recovery of patient with ischemic stroke.Methods Seventy patients with acute ischemic stroke were randomly divided into two groups.There were 35 cases in the early rehabilitation group with treatment starting between day 2 and day 7 after stroke,and other 35 cases in the late rehabilitation group with treatment starting from 1 week to 3 weeks after stroke.All the patients were given the same clinical treatment and physical therapy.Fugl-Meyer assessment scale(FM) and functional independence measure(FIM) were used to assess the motor function and activity of daily living(ADL),respectively.The assessment were done before rehabilitation treatment and after 28-30 days for stroke,respectively.Results For the aspect of Fugl-Meyer motor function score,there was no statistical difference between the two group before the treatment(P0.05),however,the patients in the early rehabilitation group had better scores in hand,wrist or arm function than those in the late rehabilitation group did after the treatment(P0.05).For the aspect of ADL,FIM score of upper limb and lower limb were both significant lower in early rehabilitation group than those in late rehabilitation group before the treatment(P0.05 for upper limb,lower limb for P0.01).But the score of early group post-treatment was significantly higher in upper limb than that of late rehabilitation group after the treatment(P0.01).Conclusion The earlier rehabilitation are started,the faster improvement on functional recovery of patient with ischemic stroke.