SSRIs in Comprehensive Rehabilitation Care

Overview

The National Rehabilitation Center in Kováčová (NRC) is a unique state institution in the SlovakRepublic, which provides comprehensive rehabilitation care to patients with motor disorders(after brain and spinal injuries, polytraumatic states, states after strokes with residual motorimpairments, etc.). The level of cooperation of patients undergoing rehabilitation treatment is oneof the most important factors which can influence and in many cases even limit the efficacy ofrehabilitation treatment and is often determined by their mental state. The aim of the presentedwork is to show further possibilities of application of SSRIs - based on the empirical experiencewith treatment of patients in the NRC.In 1997 8 patients of NRC with severe motor impairments (5 males and 3 females, aged 27 to 80years) were treated by comprehensive rehabilitation care also with SSRIs (citalopram, daily dose20 - 40 mg or fluoxetine 20 mg pro die). Improvement of the mental state associated with improvedcooperation in rehabilitation activities led in all cases to a greated effectivity of rehabilitationtreatment. No side-effects calling for correction of treatment were found in this study. On theother hand, the authors did not find any significant interaction of SSRIs with other pharmacolo-gical agents.

Key words:
motor disorders, depression, comprehensive rehabilitation care, serotonin, selective