Post Stroke Remote Complications; A Tertiary Care Experience from a Developing Country

Background: Rapidly developing clinical signs of focal (or global) disturbance of cerebral function, lasting more than 24 hours or leading to death, with no apparent cause other than that of vascular origin is termed as stroke. Our study is helpful in providing pattern of complications in different groups of stroke patients. It is also helpful in predicting and managing these complications in patients with stroke in Pakistani population. Material and Methods: Our study was a retrospective cross sectional study. Sample size was calculated using WHO sample size calculator. Sampling technique used in our study was non probability technique. Data was collected by trained medical students and was recorded on computer. The data was analyzed using IBM SPSS version 21. Results: Our study included 84 patients with stroke, which were followed for any complications for at least 6 months. The different complications were observed in stroke patients. The mean age of study participants was 57.3 ± 12.9. The mean number of patient follow-up visits was 5 ± 4. Regarding the Remote post stroke complications the most common complication was insomnia which was present in 24 (28.6%) patients followed by lethargy in 19(22.6%) and muscular spasms in 16(19%). The least common post stroke complication was impotence which was present in only 1(1.2%) patient. Conclusion: Stroke is quite common in Pakistan and post stroke complications should be managed to provide better quality of life to the patients. In our study the most common complication was insomnia followed by lethargy and muscle spasms. The least common post stroke complication was impotence.