Access to Mechanical Thrombectomy for Ischemic Stroke in the United States.

ABSTRACT:

Background and purpose

Mechanical thrombectomy helps prevent disability in patients with acute ischemic stroke involving occlusion of a large cerebral vessel. Thrombectomy requires procedural expertise and not all hospitals have the staff to perform this intervention. Few population-wide data exist regarding access to mechanical thrombectomy.

Methods

We examined access to thrombectomy for ischemic stroke using discharge data from calendar years 2016 to 2018 from all nonfederal emergency departments and acute care hospitals across 11 US states encompassing 80 million residents. Facilities were classified as hubs if they performed mechanical thrombectomy, gateways if they transferred patients who ultimately underwent mechanical thrombectomy, and gaps otherwise. We used standar

SUBMITTER: Kamel H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8316281 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature