title: Early Sitting in Ischemic Stroke Patients (SEVEL): A Randomized Controlled Trial.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Extended immobility has been associated with medical complications during hospitalization. However no clear recommendations are available for mobilization of ischemic stroke patients.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  As early mobilization has been shown to be feasible and safe, we tested the hypothesis that early sitting could be beneficial to stroke patient outcome.
  
  
  METHODS
  This prospective multicenter study tested two sitting procedures at the acute phase of ischemic stroke, in a randomized controlled fashion (clinicaltrials.org registration number NCT01573299). Patients were eligible if they were above 18 years of age and showed no sign of massive infarction or any contra-indication for sitting. In the early-sitting group, patients were seated out of bed at the earliest possible time but no later than one calendar day after stroke onset, whereas the progressively-sitting group was first seated out of bed on the third calendar day after stroke onset. Primary outcome measure was the proportion of patients with a modified Rankin score [0-2] at 3 months post stroke. Secondary outcome measures were a.) prevalence of medical complications, b.) length of hospital stay, and c.) tolerance to the procedure.
  
  
  RESULTS
  One hundred sixty seven patients were included in the study, of which 29 were excluded after randomization. Data from 138 patients, 63 in the early-sitting group and 75 in the progressively-sitting group were analyzed. There was no difference regarding outcome of people with stroke, with a proportion of Rankin [0-2] score at 3 months of 76.2% and 77.3% of patients in the early- and progressive-sitting groups, respectively (p = 0.52). There was also no difference between groups for secondary outcome measures, and the procedure was well tolerated in both arms.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Due to a slow enrollment, fewer patients than anticipated were available for analysis. As a result, we can only detect beneficial/detrimental effects of +/- 15% of the early sitting procedure on stroke outcome with a realized 37% power. However, enrollment was sufficient to rule out effect sizes greater than 25% with 80% power, indicating that early sitting is unlikely to have an extreme effect in either direction on stroke outcome. Additionally, we were not able to provide a blinded assessment of the primary outcome. Taking these limitations into account, our results may help guide the development of more effective acute stroke rehabilitation strategies, and the design of future acute stroke trials involving out of bed activities and other mobilization regimens.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01573299.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Stroke Unit, Nantes University Hospital, Nantes, France.
authors.forename: Fanny
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Herisson
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Stroke Unit, Angers University Hospital, Angers, France.
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Godard
authors.affiliation: Clinical Research Unit, Nantes University Hospital, Nantes, France.
authors.forename: Christelle
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Volteau
authors.affiliation: Clinical Research Unit, Nantes University Hospital, Nantes, France.
authors.forename: Emilie
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Le Blanc
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Stroke Unit, Nantes University Hospital, Nantes, France.
authors.forename: Benoit
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Guillon
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Stroke Unit, Tours University Hospital, Tours France.
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gaudron
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011187:Posture; D020521:Stroke / Q000150:complications*; D016896:Treatment Outcome