Association of clinical factors to functional outcomes in patients with stroke with large- vessel occlusion after endovascular thrombectomy

Background/Purpose: Multiple clinical factors have been reported to be associated with functional outcomes in patients with stroke. However, little is known about prognostic predictors of functional independence in patients with stroke undergoing endovascular throm-bectomy (EVT). Our study aimed to investigate the correlation between multiple prognostic variables (including EVT and rehabilitation-related parameters) and functional outcomes in pa-tients post-EVT. Methods: This retrospective cohort study recruited patients hospitalized between December 2018 and March 2022. Patients with stroke with large-vessel occlusion who underwent EVT were eligible for inclusion in the study. Prognostic factors, including premorbid characteristics, laboratory data, EVT-and rehabilitation-related parameters, functional activity level, balance ability, swallowing, and sphincter function, were collected. Logistic regression and general-ized linear models were used to analyze their correlations with functional outcomes. Results: A total of 148 patients were included. In the univariate logistic regression analysis, younger age, premorbid functional independence, higher hemoglobin (Hb) level, lower Na-tional Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score, absence of hemorrhagic transformation in 14 days, no nasogastric (NG) tube placement, earlier rehabilitation, frequent daily rehabil-itation sessions, more out-of-bed rehabilitation, better ability of sitting up, better initial sitting balance, higher Barthel index (BI), absence of immobility, and neurological complica-tions were associated with favorable outcomes at 3 months. In the stepwise regression model, the predictors of favorable function at 3 months included age, ability to sit up, and frequency of daily rehabilitation sessions; favorable outcomes at 6 months were associated with age, ability to sit up, and swallowing function. Conclusion: In patients with stroke post-EVT, better functional outcomes were associated with prognostic variables, including younger age, better ability to sit up, normal swallowing func-tion, and frequent daily rehabilitation sessions.Copyright 2022, Formosan Medical Association. Published by Elsevier Taiwan LLC. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).