Stroke care at Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital
When your child is showing signs of a stroke, immediate diagnosis and treatment is critical to restore blood flow to the brain and decrease the risk of long-term effects. Pediatric doctors and care teams at Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis, in collaboration with Indiana Hemophilia and Thrombosis Center, deliver immediate care for infants and children who are having a stroke. Additionally, our pediatric and neonatal transport helicopter brings lifesaving pediatric stroke care to children and families across the region.
“BE FAST” when you see signs of a stroke in infants and children:
- Balance - loss of balance
- Eyes - sudden trouble seeing
- Face - numbness or weakness on one side of the face
- Arm - numbness or weakness in one arm
- Speech - difficulty speaking
- Time - time to call 911
If your child is showing warning signs of a stroke, call 911 and go to the nearest ER.
Multidisciplinary pediatric stroke care
Your child will benefit from the combined expertise of many different specialists. Our multidisciplinary care team includes board-certified pediatric emergency care doctors, pediatric neurologists, neurointerventional radiologists and neurosurgeons. Pediatric hematologists provide expertise in conditions with the highest risk of stroke such as blood and clotting disorders, and sickle cell disease. Together, we deliver comprehensive stroke care that helps restore blood flow to the brain.
Diagnosing stroke in infants and children
We use advanced diagnostics to quickly diagnose stroke in infants and children, including:
- Computed tomography (CT)
- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
- Catheter angiogram
- Echocardiogram
Pediatric stroke treatment
At Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital, your child’s care team delivers advanced treatment for stroke care including medication, catheter-based procedures and surgery.
Follow-up care is an important part of your child’s treatment plan. For inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation, your child’s care team at Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital connects your child and family with the right pediatric specialists. This can include physical therapists, occupation therapists, speech therapists, neurologists, dietitians, social workers and more.
Supportive care for your child
Having a stroke not only affects your child’s physical health but also their emotional and social wellbeing. We connect your child to support services, such as counselors and social workers, to help with school and college placement, scholarships, career counseling and more. Career counselors talk with your family and your child’s school about individualized education programs (IEP) and 504 plans. Allowing us to be a part of these conversations helps to ensure your child has the accommodations they may need after experiencing a stroke.
We also provide referrals to other pediatric specialties, such as physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy. And we connect you with specialists for neuropsychological testing to better understand your child’s neurodevelopment after experiencing a stroke.
Transfer a patient to Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital
Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis provides 24/7 stroke care for children throughout Indiana. We have a dedicated pediatric transport team to bring children directly to a higher level of care.
To transfer a patient to a higher level of care at Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital, call 317-338-5000.