300 Section - Hyponatremia after acute stroke and rehabilitation outcomes

This study aimed to evaluate the impact of hyponatremia on functional outcomes in stroke patients who received acute stroke rehabilitation, with investigating the association between hyponatremia and length of hospital stay.

Design: This study is a single-center, retrospective study. 

Medical records were reviewed of who underwent inpatient stroke rehabilitation in a single center. Using propensity score matching for age and sex, we compared functional outcomes between hyponatremia and non-hyponatremia groups, using functional ambulatory category (FAC), modified Bathel Index of Korean version (K-MBI), and length of hospital stay.

Results:

A total of 141 patients with stroke were initially recruited and analyzed. 61 were classified into hyponatremia and 80 into non-hyponatremia group. After 1:1 propensity score matching with age and sex, each 50 patients were included in each group for the final analysis.

After matching, mean age of all included patients was 67.72 year-old. Non-hyponatremia group showed lower NIHSS at admission (6.76±4.25) than hyponatremia group (11.5±8.45), better K-MBI (non-hyponatremia, 47.20±29.49, hyponatremia, 30.94±23.47), and better FAC (non-hyponatremia, 1.16 ±1.56, hyponatremia, 0.46±0.91) scores at the time of starting rehabilitation, but not statistically significant. Hyponatremia group (40.92 days) showed longer hospital stays than non-hyponatremia group (52.7 days) significantly. Analyzing dichotomously for independent ambulation ability (FAC ≥ 4) and good function outcome (K-MBI ≥ 75), non-hyponatremia group have more patients (44% in FAC, 56% in K-MBI) with better outcomes than hyponatremia (16% in FAC, 22% in K-MBI) group significantly.

Conclusion:

When stroke patients showed hyponatremia in early stage, they may show poorer rehabilitation outcomes and longer length of hospital stays.