Abstract: Objective To observe the effect of continual rehabilitation on patients with brainstem infarction. Methods 52 stroke patientswith brainstem infarction were divided into early rehabilitation group (n=26) and continual rehabilitation group (n=26). 2 groups receivedearly rehabilitation for 1 month. Then the continual rehabilitation group continued rehabilitation in the rehabilitation unit, while the early rehabilitationgroup just received the medical guide after discharge. Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA), the Balance subscale of the Fugl-Meyertest (FM-B), and modified Barthel Index (MBI) were applied to assess the motor function, balance function and the activities of daily living(ADL) in two groups respectively before and 1 month and 3 months after training. Results The motor function, balance function, the performanceof activities of daily living improved in the continual rehabilitation group (P<0.05). Compared with the early rehabilitation group, thecontinual rehabilitation group significantly improved in FMA, FMA-B and MBI 3 months after the rehabilitation (P<0.05). There was a positivecorrelation in the scores among FMA and FMA-B and MBI. Conclusion The continual rehabilitation is benefit to the motor functionand balance function and ADL of the patients with brainstem infarction.

Key words: brainstem infarction, continual rehabilitation, motor function, balance function, activities of daily living