Background: Secondary injuries are frequent in stroke patients at the acute phase. The early rehabilitation for these patients currently still hasn't received enough attention. Thus it may increase the rate of the secondary disorders. Objectives: To describe the common secondary injuries in stroke patients at the acute phase. Subjects: 90 stroke patients over 18 years old that had experienced hemiplegia less than 30 days, and were treated at Neurology Department, Bach Mai Hospital. Method: Cross-sectional study. Data was analyzed by SPSS software, version 13.0. Results: The rate of the secondary injuries in these patients had reached 80.0%. Among them, the rate of pneumonia is the highest with 30.0%, then urological infections with 17.8%, followed by muscular atrophies, contracture of muscles, stress ulcer, and orthostatic hypotension. There is a close relation between pneumonia and perception impairment: the rate of pneumonia in perception impairment patients was 5.25 folds higher than that in patients without perception impairment (67.9% vs. 12.9%, p< 0.001). Similarly, pneumonia rate in patients with nasogastric tube was 4.2 folds higher than that of patients without nasogastric tube (90.9% vs. 21.5%, p< 0.001). Conclusion: The rate of the secondary injuries in acute stroke patients is high. It is necessary to carry out intensive nursing and rehabilitation for these patients.
secondary injuries ; stroke