Remote Ischemic Conditioning Beneficial for Ischemic Stroke Treated by Endovascular Thrombectomy

A Chinese multicenter, participant-blinded, randomized controlled trial found that remote ischemic conditioning (RIC)—a neuroprotective therapy involving twice-daily cuff inflation to 200 mmHg (four cycles of 5 minutes of ischemia followed by 5 minutes of reperfusion) for 7 days—significantly improved recovery in patients with acute ischemic stroke undergoing endovascular thrombectomy. Among 488 patients analyzed (244 RIC, 244 sham RIC at 60 mmHg), 61.1% of RIC patients versus 48.9% of sham patients achieved favorable functional outcomes at 90 days (modified Rankin Scale score 0–2; unadjusted risk ratio 1.25). Hemorrhagic transformation rates within 7 days were similar (37.7% vs 35.2%). These results suggest that RIC can enhance functional recovery without increasing early bleeding risk in patients with acute ischemic stroke undergoing endovascular thrombectomy. Prior research indicates that RIC exerts multi-target, systemic protective effects—anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative, and neuroregulatory—benefiting multiple organs, including the heart, brain, kidneys, and liver. Source: https://academic.oup.com/eurheartj/