Guidelines for management of ischaemic stroke and transient ischaemic attack 2008

This article represents the update of the European Stroke Initiative Recommendations for Stroke Management. These guidelines cover both ischaemic stroke and transient ischaemic attacks, which are now considered to be a single entity. The article covers referral and emergency management, Stroke Unit service, diagnostics, primary and secondary prevention, general stroke treatment, specific treatment including acute management, management of complications, and rehabilitation

Mental techniques during manual stretching in spasticity--a pilot randomized controlled trial

To evaluate the feasibility and effects of using motor imagery during therapeutic stretching in individuals with spasticity

Spasticity after stroke: Physiology, assessment and treatment

Spasticity following a stroke occurs in about 30% of patients. The mechanisms underlying this disorder, however, are not well understood. This review aims to define spasticity, describe hypotheses explaining its development after a stroke, give an overview of related neuroimaging studies as well as a description of the most common scales used to quantify the degree of spasticity and finally explore which treatments are currently being used to treat this disorder. The lack of consensus is highlighted on the basis of spasticity and the associated absence of guidelines for treatment, use of drugs and rehabilitation programmes. Future studies require controlled protocols to determine the efficiency of pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments for spasticity. Neuroimaging may help predict the occurrence of spasticity and could provide insight into its neurological basis