Safety of intravenous thrombolytic use in four emergency departments without acute stroke teams.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

The objective was to evaluate safety of intravenous (IV) tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) delivered without dedicated thrombolytic stroke teams.

Methods

This was a retrospective, observational study of patients treated between 1996 and 2005 at four southeastern Michigan hospital emergency departments (EDs) with a prospectively defined comparison to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) tPA stroke study cohort. Main outcome measures were mortality, intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), systemic hemorrhage, neurologic recovery, and guideline violations.

Results

A total of 273 consecutive stroke patients were treated by 95 emergency physicians (EPs) using guidelines and local neurology resources. One-year mortality was 27.8%. Unadjust

SUBMITTER: Scott PA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3058313 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature