Hemorrhagic Stroke Treatment

A stroke is a medical condition where blood is cut off from the brain. This results in various symptoms including numbness and weakness, usually on one side of the body, confusion, and trouble to speak, vision problem, trouble walking due to dizziness or lack of balance and coordination and severe headaches.

There are two types of strokes, ischemic and hemorrhagic. Ischemic strokes are caused by a blockage in the arteries in the brain and are the most common type of stroke. Hemorrhagic strokes are less common, accounting for about 20% of strokes, and are caused by a sudden burst of a blood vessel leading to bleeding in the brain tissue.

About 30-60% of people who suffer a hemorrhagic stroke die, and it is imperative to get to medical care as quickly as possible to begin hemorrhagic stroke treatment

The first goal is to try to control the bleeding and reduce the pressure the bleeding causes. Drugs can be given to help reduce blood pressure and slow bleeding. Another way to reduce the pressure is by intubating the patient to hyperventilate the patient as a way to lower the pressure around the brain.

Once the pressure is under control, further treatment is needed. Surgery may be needed to repair the blood vessel. There are multiple types of surgeries that may be needed:

Surgical clipping: Involves the placement of a clamp at the base of the aneurysm to stop blood flow to it.

Coiling: A catheter is inserted into the artery in the groin and guided up to the brain by X-ray. The coils are moved to the aneurysm and the coils fill the space, blocking blood flow into the aneurysm.

Stereotactic Radiosurgery: Multiple beams of radiation are used to repair vascular malformations.

After the pressure and bleeding have been controlled, there is still possibly months of rehabilitation for the patient to undergo including physical and speech therapy to return prior functions though the road to a full recovery is long and sometimes not possible.