Cheap inflatable wraps that squeeze the legs of stroke patients to encourage blood circulation may help to save lives, according to research carried out on nearly 3,000 patients in Scottish hospitals.
Deep vein thrombosis, or leg clots, are more commonly associated with long-haul travellers, but they are a real problem for hospital patients unable to move, particularly those still recovering from a stroke.
Doctors at the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh, working with the local university, tested compression socks which are often used by airline passengers. Neither they nor the clot-busting drugs did much to help. The drugs, in fact, led to other problems, including bleeding on the brain.
However, the inflatable leg-wraps, which are fitted around the legs and are filled with air every minute, compressing the legs and forcing the blood back to the heart, were found to improve outcomes significantly, particularly if they were worn for a month, or so.
Significant improvement
In the study at Western General Hospital, 8.5 per cent of patients using the compression device developed blood clots, compared with 12.1 per cent of patients who received the standard treatment – a significant improvement, according to researchers.
Prof Martin Dennis said: "At last we have a simple, safe and affordable treatment that reduces the risk of deep vein thrombosis and even appears to reduce the risk of dying after a stroke."
The British Stroke Association, noting that 60,000 people a year are effectively immobile in British hospitals after a stroke, said the results were extremely encouraging and could save thousands of lives. Describing the findings as "a major breakthrough", Prof Tony Rudd, who heads the Royal College of Physicians' expert group, said the Scottish results were "one of the most important research studies to emerge from the field of stroke in recent years".
Meanwhile, a study by the Stroke Association has revealed that significant differences exist in blood pressure rates – one of the key warning indicators for strokes – between different parts of Britain, with Herefordshire having far healthier figures than Lincolnshire, for example.
Patients are usually regarded as having high blood pressure if their figures are consistently higher than 140/90mmHg – an average figure produced by people from 10 different counties in England, Scotland and Wales.
“Anyone with a reading around or above this figure should seek advice from their GP. If your blood pressure is above 160/100mmHg you should seek urgent medical attention,” the Stroke Association said.
