Improving the Management of Post-Stroke Spasticity: Time for Action

OBJECTIVE: To identify barriers to appropriate referral and treatment for patients with spasticity and present solutions that address these in a pragmatic way. METHODS: Using the findings of interviews conducted with UK healthcare professionals on the management of post-stroke spasticity, a consensus meeting was held involving 7 UK spasticity experts. The panel identified barriers to timely identification and referral of patients in the acute and post-acute care settings. Barriers were prioritized using a consensus framework based on impact and resolvability and a series of final recommendations were agreed. RESULTS: High-priority barriers broadly related to: insufficient awareness of spasticity symptoms and benefits of treatment, limited access to spasticity services and lack of standardized pathways for post-stroke spasticity identification. Potential solutions included the appointment of an experienced member of the acute team to gain expertise in spasticity identification, patient education of spasticity symptoms and a greater utilization of training resources for healthcare professionals. CONCLUSION: To address the barriers identified, we provide a series of consensus recommendations. As a key recommendation, we propose a set of indicators for the identification of stroke patients requiring specialist assessment and the use of the associated acronym “ACTION”.