The Effectiveness and Outcomes of Oculomotor and Visual Field Deficit Rehabilitation Secondary to Ischemic Cerebrovascular Accident: A Literature Review

Visual field loss and oculomotor dysfunctions are two common vision deficits caused by cerebrovascular accidents. Oftentimes these deficits can result in a loss of independence for patients and depression. Neurovisual rehabilitation is a frequently overlooked aspect of stroke rehabilitation, so investigating the current rehab approaches and the factors that play a role in the effectiveness of these methods is crucial so that clinicians can provide more direct and focused treatment for their patients. This literature review research process used PubMed, NCBI, and EbscoHost as primary databases. Preliminary results showed that restitutive and compensatory rehabilitation approaches are effective for treating visual field and oculomotor deficits. Substitutive therapies have some subjective evidence of successful patient outcomes but are in need of more extensive research. It was concluded that compensatory rehabilitative approaches have the best outcomes for treating visual field deficits and oculomotor dysfunctions, and this information can be used when deciding what treatment options are best for stroke patients