Here at
Sri Ramakrishna Hospital, we take pride in ensuring the very best possible care is made available to patients. Patients who are suffering from an ischaemic stroke may be treated using a drug to ‘bust’ the clot, in order to try and restore blood flow to the brain. The medicine prescribed is called recombinant tissue Plasminogen Activator (rt-PA).
The procedure of administering the medicine is called thrombolysis.
Thrombolysis itself can only be administered in a very strict set of circumstances. In most cases, patients can receive thrombolysis only within the
first four and a half hours of suffering from the stroke. This is why when it comes to getting a stroke patient to a hospital for treatment, every minute counts. In rare circumstances, doctors may choose to administer thrombolysis as much as six hours after the attack.
It is important to know that thrombolysis may not be administered for a number of reasons such as
- The patient having a bleed in the brain
- The inability to ascertain the exact time when the stroke occurred
- The patient doesn’t reach the hospital in time
- The patient has a bleeding disorder
- The patient had undergone major surgery recently
- The patient had suffered from a head injury or another stroke within the
previous three months
- The patient may be on medication which isn’t compatible with rt-PA
In addition to helping minimise the effect of strokes, at SRH,
we focus on the quality of life of the patient after danger is averted. Stroke patients may suffer from varying degrees of inhibition of mobility and so on. We offer specialised stroke rehabilitation with a veritable army of experts Comprising Neurologists, Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists, Speech Therapists and Pathologists, Psychologists and so on.
Together they work towards improving the patients’ Mobility, Locomotion, Self care, Communication, Cognition and Control of bowels and bladder function.
You can rest assured that in our hands, patients have the very chance of recovery and the chance to lead a long and fulfilling life.
Radio Frequency Ablation for cluster headache & Trigeminal Neuralgia
Ablation simply means the removal of tissue. Radio Frequency Ablation (RFA) is a surgical technique wherein high frequency heat is aimed at different parts of the body in order to achieve a desired result. It may be used on tissue or tumour or, in this case, nerves. The last is used when patients suffer from chronic pain.
As we’ve seen, the trigeminal nerve is the centre of all heat and pain sensation in the face. Sometimes, medication is simply not enough to tackle the searing pain of cluster headaches and neuralgia. In these cases, Radio Frequency Ablation is an excellent treatment option.
At Sri Ramakrishna Hospital, a surgeon will put you under general
anaesthesia. A needle is then inserted via the mouth so it reaches the trigeminal nerve. The patient is then awakened and stimulated to ensure that the needle is at the correct location. The patient is then put back under general anaesthesia and high frequency heat is aimed at the trigeminal nerve. This basically ‘injures’ the nerve enough to ensure it doesn’t communicate pain any more. There is a fairly high success rate for this procedure with nearly 80% of patients expressing relief from their overwhelming pain. There is a chance of recurrence of pain within a timeframe of a couple of years but this is a treatment which can be repeated at that juncture. Overall, an excellent prognosis for patients suffering from a debilitating condition.
The immune system is the body’s defence system against infection or ‘foreign invaders’. It can work against diseases by recognising the difference between healthy cells and cancer cells for example. Sometimes however the immune system can’t recognise the invader and the healthy cells and it turns on itself.
Immunotherapy is a term used for a collection of treatments that work on the immune system of the body, trying to modify it to act to the advantage of the patient, or at least not to his or her detriment. Several clinical trials have demonstrated that immunosuppressive agents and treatments can have a positive effect on autoimmune conditions such as autoimmune encephalitis and multiple sclerosis. However the medications themselves can have a host of side effects and these therefore need to be prescribed by highly skilled medical specialists.
We at Sri Ramakrishna Hospital offer the very highest levels of care and state of the art treatments to our patients, including immunotherapies for auto immune disorders. Our team of world class specialists prescribe and closely monitor the effects of the procedures and treatments to ensure the very best outcomes for our patients.
While there are no known cures for Guillain Barre Syndrome, there are treatments which can alleviate the severity of the condition and hasten Patient Recovery.
Plasmapheresis: Also known as plasma exchange, plasmapheresis is a process wherein blood is removed from the body. It is then processed to separate the red and white blood cells from the plasma. The red and white blood cells are then reintroduced into the patient’s body without the plasma, which is immediately replaced by the body. This process appears to reduce length and severity of the Guillain Barre attack, although scientists still aren’t able to ascertain exactly why. One theory is that the process of plasmapheresis helps to remove antibodies and other factors which could cause damage to the nerves.
Immunoglobulin Therapy: Immunoglobulin Therapy consists of giving high doses or injections of proteins which the immune system ordinarily uses in small quantities to attack invading foreign bodies. It has been found that these immunoglobulins, which are derived from a pool of many ordinary donors, can help reduce the immune system’s attack on the nervous system.
At Sri Ramakrishna Hospital, doctors and surgeons routinely use state-of-the-art treatments such as plasmapheresis and immunoglobulin therapy to treat patients suffering from Guillain Barre Syndrome.
