Rehabilitation of postcardiac surgery stroke patients. Progress, outcomes, and comparisons with other stroke patients

To examine the demographics, progress, and functional outcomes of all postcardiac surgery stroke patients admitted to the rehabilitation unit of an acute, tertiary general hospital over a 5-yr period and to compare this cohort with an age-matched control group of other stroke patients admitted during the same period.

A retrospective chart review of 47 postcardiac surgery stroke and a matched control group of other stroke patients admitted to the rehabilitation unit.

The mean age of the postcardiac surgery stroke patients was 70.80 +/- 8.37 yr, with 60% of patients being male. Their average length of stay on the rehabilitation unit was 15.64 +/- 11.96 days. Mean admit FIM total score was 65.64 +/- 16.33, with a discharge FIM total score of 86.77 +/- 18.93. Mean admit FIM motor score was 41.47 +/- 9.45, with a discharge FIM motor of 60.74 +/- 13.20. The other stroke group had significantly greater admit FIM total (P = 0.03), admit motor (P = 0.001), and discharge motor (P = 0.025) scores. FIM efficiency and motor and cognitive gains were comparable between the two groups. Length of stay on the rehabilitation unit was approximately 2 days less (P = 0.224) for the other stroke cohort. Ultimately, 39 (83%) of the postcardiac surgery stroke patients were discharged to the community compared with 45 (96%) of the other stroke patients (P = 0.19).

The majority of postcardiac surgery stroke patients successfully completed a comprehensive inpatient rehabilitation program. They had lower admit FIM total scores and admit and discharge FIM motor scores than the other stroke group and were almost as likely to ultimately return to the community.