International journal of stroke : official journal of the International Stroke Society
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Head position and cerebral blood flow in acute ischemic stroke patients: Protocol for the pilot phase, cluster randomized, Head Position in Acute Ischemic Stroke Trial (HeadPoST pilot).
Few proven interventions exist for acute ischemic stroke (AIS), and most are expensive and restricted in applicability. Lying flat 'head down' positioning of AIS patients has been shown to increase by as much as 20%, mean cerebral blood flow velocities (CBFV) measured by transcranial Doppler (TCD) but whether this translates into clinical improvement is uncertain. ⋯ HeadPoST pilot is a cluster randomized multicenter clinical trial investigating the effect of head positioning on mean CBFV in anterior circulation AIS.