Physiotherapy Interventions in Stroke in COVID-19 – A Case Report

Abstract

A 67year old known hypertensive and diabetic right handed man who was diagnosed of stroke post
COVID-19 and presented with impaired motor functions essentially of right limbs; trunk impairment;
impaired balance and loss of ambulatory function was daily managed with paced capacity based
physiotherapy protocols which was gradually increased within tolerated levels until he became stable
ambulatory wise without any respiratory distress, at which point he was discharged from physiotherapy,
Katz Score being 6/6 and gait speed which was 0.18m/s at start of ambulation rose to 1.47m/s with
maximum ambulatory distance of 103m at a stretch and SPO2 at 95%. Peripheral Agraphia identified at
7weeks post physiotherapy intervention was productively managed with Recall and Copy Treatment,
RACT, the writing became very legible.The adopted physiotherapy interventions ensured Physical
Activity Reactivation (PAR) with the patient being able to ‘step out’ with reassured health life and
integration into normal activities of daily living (ADL). The Functional Physical Activity Tempo (FPAT)
can be sustained post COVID Rehabilitation once it’s well considered and integrated into rehabilitation
protocols