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(Stroke. 2004;35:383.)
© 2004 American Heart Association, Inc.

Advances in Stroke 2003

What’s New in Stroke Rehabilitation

Robert W. Teasell, MD Lalit Kalra, MD

From Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (R.W.T.), St Joseph’s Health Care, London, Ontario, Canada; and Stroke Medicine (L.K.), GKT School of Medicine, King’s College Hospital, London, UK.

Correspondence to Dr. Robert Teasell, University of Western Ontario, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Parkwood Hospital, 801 Commissioners Rd E, London, Ontario, Canada N6C 5J1. E-mail robert.teasell@sjhc.london.on.ca

Key Words: Advances in Stroke • rehabilitation

An extract of the first 250 words of the full text is provided, because this article has no abstract.

Stroke rehabilitation has been revolutionized in the last decade through a combination of new imaging techniques looking at brain recovery and clinical trials into what is working in stroke rehabilitation. The fear that rehabilitation was a long way from being rooted in science¹ has been overcome by an increasing understanding of neuronal recovery processes and their modulation by various physical and pharmacological interventions. More than 300 randomized controlled trials provide a sound foundation for evidence-based practice in stroke rehabilitation, supplementing and often confirming decades of clinical experience. This growing body of knowledge has been enriched by several studies in 2003. Advances in basic sciences and clinical research are beginning to merge and show that the human brain is capable of significant recovery after stroke, provided that the appropriate treatments and stimuli are applied in adequate amounts and at the right time. What is particularly exciting is the introductions of new technologies such as robotic enhancement of therapies and virtual reality to further enhance that recovery.

Intensity Versus Task-Specificity After Stroke

Stroke rehabilitation is therapy intensive and one of the unresolved debates has been around the issues of quality and quantity. Evidence is building that intensity of therapy is important. This is particularly true for language recovery. Bhogal et al² identified 8 randomized controlled trials (RCTs), which compared the intensity of speech and language therapy (SLT) delivered by a trained therapist versus a non-therapist or a non-SLT control. Four of the studies were positive and these studies provided a mean of 8.8 hours of therapy per . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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