BACKGROUND: Stroke affects large number of people worldwide resulting in disability. The people in the northern region of India follow some domiciliary practices, which include administration of opioids at the onset of stroke to retard its progression. AIM: To study the effect of opioids on the outcome and severity of stroke when used as domiciliary treatment in peri-stroke period. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective, observational study on stroke patients was carried out in Department of Neurology, Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana, Punjab, India from March 2012 to March 2013. Data were collected in a semi-structured proforma. The variables which were studied included socio-demographic characteristics such as age, gender, religion, socio-economic status, and place of inhabitation. The time of opioid administration, approximate amount administered, frequency of administration, duration of hospital stay, risk factors and co-morbid conditions were also studied. The stroke severity was analyzed by comparing National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score and outcome by comparing Modified Rankin Scale (MRS) score in both the groups at the time of admission and at the time of discharge. RESULTS: Out of n = 100 recruited patients, n = 44 (Group A) reported opioid intake in the peri-stroke period and n = 56 (Group B) did not. Proportions of patients from rural areas were 61.4% in Group A and 37.5% in Group B. Mean age in groups A and B was 63 +/- 9.15 and 59.8 +/- 13.87 years, respectively; in these groups male proportions were 70.5% and 60.7%, respectively. At admission, mean NIHSS scores in Groups A and B were 10.0 +/- 4.48 and 10.8 +/- 4.51, respectively; on discharge, these scores were 6.3 +/- 3.83 and 7.7 +/- 3.79, respectively. At admission, mean MRS scores in Groups A and B were 3.7 +/- 1.14 and 3.8 +/- 1.32, respectively; upon discharge, these scores were 2.8 +/- 1.18, 3.1 +/- 1.23 respectively. CONCLUSION: In this cohort, we found that the domiciliary practice of opioids administration in the peri-stroke period is more common among the elderly and in the rural areas. There was no statistically significant difference in the mean NIHSS and MRS scores at admission as well as discharge implying that the opioid administration did not improve outcome or decrease the severity of the stroke. Our findings are robust enough to propose a larger sample size and follow-up in future studies to definitively ascertain the effect of opioids as pretreatment in stroke patients.
