Abstract: Objective To investigate the clinical characteristics of stroke combined with sarcopenia, and to investigate the effect of early intervention of microecological enteral nutrition. Methods A total of 60 patients with stroke combined with sarcopenia who were admitted to Department of Neurology, PetroChina Central Hospital from May 2020 to December 2021 were enrolled in the stroke with sarcopenia group, and 60 patients with stroke who did not present with sarcopenia were enrolled in the control group. The clinical characteristics of the two groups were compared. The patients with stroke combined with sarcopenia were divided into the early microecological group and the conventional group according to whether they received early microecological enteral nutrition intervention or not, with 30 patients in each group. After 3 months intervention, body mass index(BMI), prognosis-related scores such as Mini-Mental StateExamination(MMSE) score and modified Rankin scale(mRS) score, muscle grip strength, muscle mass, 5-times sit-to-stand test(FTSST) and modified Romberg test were detected and compared. Results The age and National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale(NIHSS) score in the stroke with sarcopenia group were higher than those in the control group, and the levels of BMI, MMSE score, activities of daily living(ADL) score, mRS score were lower than those in the control group(P<0.05). BMI, MMSE score, ADL score, skeletal muscle index (SMI) of limbs, muscle grip strength, total muscle mass, eye closing time of front and back half of foot and eye opening time of front and back of feet in the early microecological group after treatment were higher than those before treatment and those in the conventional group, while FTSST time, NIHSS score and mRS score were lower than those before treatment and those in the conventional group. Conclusions Sarcopenia can reduce the ability of daily living of the patients with stroke and cause serious neurological deficits, but early microecological enteral nutrition intervention can improve muscle strength, promote the recovery of physical ability, and improve daily life.

Key words: sarcopenia, stroke, microecological enteral nutrition, muscle strength, prognosis