Effect of inpatient rehabilitation on self-care and functional activities in acute ischemic stroke patients who underwent thrombectomy

The benefits of rehabilitation in acute ischemic stroke patients following thrombectomy remain underexplored. We assessed which activities of daily living (ADLs) show the greatest improvement after goal-directed therapy in an inpatient rehabilitation setting. We retrospectively analyzed pre- and post-rehabilitation functional assessments in 40 acute ischemic stroke patients treated with mechanical thrombectomy. All patients received goal-directed therapy at a rehabilitation facility. Activities were grouped into two domains: (1) self-care (eating, oral hygiene, toileting hygiene, showering/bathing, dressing) and (2) functional mobility (footwear management, rolling, sit-to-lying, lying-to-sitting, sit-to-stand). Mean percent changes were calculated for each activity. Patients had a mean rehabilitation stay of 18 ± 9 days. In the self-care domain, the greatest relative improvements were observed in showering/bathing (44% ± 17%), upper body dressing (39% ± 19%), and toileting hygiene (39% ± 29%). In the mobility domain, the sit-to-lying activity showed the highest improvement (44% ± 20%). All measured activities demonstrated functional gains post-rehabilitation. Goal-directed inpatient rehabilitation was associated with substantial improvements in both self-care and functional mobility following thrombectomy. The most notable gains were in showering/bathing and sit-to-lying transitions. These findings demonstrate that structured inpatient rehabilitation is associated with measurable improvements in functional recovery in stroke patients post-thrombectomy.