Ischemic Preconditioning as an Intervention to Improve Stroke Rehabilitation - Froedtert

Medical College of Wisconsin20 enrolled

Overview

This study will be the first study to use ischemic preconditioning (IPC) as an intervention to improve stroke rehabilitation. IPC is a well studied, well tolerated intervention which has been shown to improve regional blood flow, motor neuron excitability and muscle function in multiple patient groups and in young, healthy subjects. Because IPC targets three physiological systems which are all affected by stroke, we hypothesize that repeated bouts of IPC during the first days to months following stroke (when the majority of recovery occurs) will make traditional rehabilitation strategies more effective.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Enrollment

Conditions

Stroke Rehabilitation Ischemic Preconditioning Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine

Interventions

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 40 YearsMax age: 80 Years

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: 1. be between the ages of 40-80 2. able to give informed consent. 3. be \< 6 months post diagnosis of unilateral cortical stroke and 4. have residual leg paresis. Exclusion Criteria: 1. chronic low back or hip pain 2. substance abuse 3. head trauma with loss of conciousness in last 6 months 4. neurodegenerative disorder 5. participant taking any medication or supplement that adversely interacts with nitroglycerin (exclusion from nitro administration only, applies to outpatients only) 6. participant has a known allergy to nitroglycerin (exclusion from nitro administration only, applies to outpatients only) 7. resting systolic blood pressure \< 90mmHg (exclusion from nitro administration only, applies to outpatients only) 8. any condition where knee extension contractions are contraindicated 9. people who are unable to follow multi step commands. 10. pregnancy (DXA scan exclusion only) 11. history of major psychiatric disorder 12. participant has had a myocardial infarction in the last year 13. participant has stage II hypertension (BP\>160/100) 14. participant is unable to contract knee muscles 15. participant is unable to sit upright for 2 hours 16. participant has a resting heart rate \>100 beats per minute 17. history of multiple strokes

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Change in Knee Extensor Strength

Time frame: Admission into study and within 3 days of Discharge from Froedtert Hospital

Secondary Outcomes

Change in Walking Speed