Abstract

A COMPARITIVE STUDY ON THE ASSESSMENT OF NEUROPROTECTIVE EFFECT OF CITICOLINE VS CITICOLINE WITH PIRACETAM AND HEALTH RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE IN POST STROKE PATIENTS

Ashwin Shibu*, Meera S.*, Anuja V. Gopal*, Dr. Malini Gopinath, Dr. Prasobh G. R., Dr. Grace N. Raju

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Abstract

Aim: To assess the neuroprotective effects of Citicoline versus Citicoline with Piracetam combination and health related quality of life in post stroke patients. Methods: A hospital based prospective observational study was done at a tertiary care hospital located in Thiruvananthapuram over a period of 6 months. The neuroprotective effect of citicoline against a combination of drugs, citicoline with piracetam was compared by the use of two groups. One group of patients treated with citicoline and the other group with citicoline and piracetam combination. The neuroprotective effect was compared by the use of National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS). The quality of life of the patients was evaluated before and after the treatment by using Barthel Index Scale (BIS) to detect whether the QOL has improved. Results: The treatment with citicoline and piracetam combination gives better neuroprotection than that of individual treatment with citicoline. At the end of the treatment, 38% improvement was seen in patients who took the combination of drugs while individual drug shows only 32% of advancement. The QOL shows 46% improvement in patients taking citicoline with piracetam and 40% betterment was observed in patients taking citicoline. Conclusion: The result shows that the treatment with the combination of citicoline and piracetam gives better neuroprotective effect and also shows superiority in upgrading the quality of life. Even though the treatment outcome of citicoline was not superior to the outcome of combination, only 3% of difference was observed between the outcomes of two groups.

Keywords: citicoline, piracetam, stroke treatment, combination therapy, citicoline and piracetam, post stroke patients.