Monday, May 15, 2023

Impact of prehospital stroke triage implementation on patients with intracerebral hemorrhage

My conclusion is that this was bad research, you didn't measure recovery at all. I think survivors would like to know how good you were at getting survivors recovered, this is a failing grade and you should be fired.

“What's measured, improves.” So said management legend and author Peter F. Drucker 

The latest here:

Impact of prehospital stroke triage implementation on patients with intracerebral hemorrhage

Abstract

Background:

Little is known about how prehospital triage using large vessel occlusion (LVO) stroke prediction scales affects patients with intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH).

Objectives:

We aimed to investigate whether the Stockholm Stroke Triage System (SSTS) implemented in 2017 has affected timing and outcomes of acute ICH neurosurgery, and to assess system triage accuracy for ICH with a neurosurgical indication or LVO thrombectomy.

Design:

Observational cohort study.

Methods:

In the Stockholm Region, we compared surgical timing, functional outcome, and death at 3 months in patients transported by code-stroke ground ambulance who had ICH neurosurgery, 2 years before versus 2 years after SSTS implementation. We also calculated triage precision metrics for treatment with either ICH neurosurgery or thrombectomy.

Results:

A total of 36 patients undergoing ICH neurosurgery were included before SSTS implementation and 30 after. No significant difference was found in timing of neurosurgery [median 7.5 (4.9–20.7) versus 9.1 (6.1–12.5) h after onset], distribution of functional outcomes (median 4 versus 4), and death at 3 months [3/29 (9%) versus 5/35 (17%)] before versus after implementation, respectively. The SSTS routed a larger proportion of patients subsequently undergoing ICH neurosurgery directly to the comprehensive stroke center: 13/36 (36%) before versus 18/30 (60%) after implementation. Overall system triage accuracy for ICH neurosurgery or thrombectomy was high at 90%, with 92% specificity and 65% sensitivity.

Conclusion:

The SSTS, initially designed for prehospital LVO stroke triage, routed more patients with neurosurgical indication for ICH directly to the comprehensive stroke center. This did not significantly affect surgical timing or outcomes.

Introduction

Recently updated intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) guidelines from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association recommend prehospital tools to recognize stroke and grade its severity.1 Meanwhile, studies of prehospital severity-based algorithms on ICH are lacking. This is highlighted in the guidelines, which emphasize the need for research on the impact of regionalized large vessel occlusion (LVO) stroke pathways on ICH patients.1 Comprehensive stroke centers (CSCs) receive a larger proportion of ICH patients after implementation of prehospital LVO protocols, owing to higher symptom severity in ICH compared with ischemic stroke and stroke mimics.13 Avoiding interhospital transfers in ICH has been reported to reduce the risk of deterioration during transport and decrease costs.46 It is yet unknown whether symptom-based prehospital triage of patients to a CSC leads to more rapid initiation of ICH treatments only available at CSCs, specifically acute neurosurgery.
In 2017, the Stockholm Region implemented the Stockholm Stroke Triage System (SSTS), aiming to identify patients with LVO stroke and transport them directly to the CSC, bypassing more proximal primary stroke centers (PSCs). The SSTS reduced time from onset to endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) by 69 min without delaying intravenous thrombolysis (IVT), and significantly improved outcomes in EVT.7,8 Of nearly 3000 patients annually taken to hospital by code-stroke ambulance in the Stockholm Region, 8% have previously been shown to suffer from ICH, 4% a subarachnoid or subdural hemorrhage, 44% an ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack, and 44% a stroke mimic.9
First, we aimed to evaluate whether timing and outcome of acute ICH neurosurgery changed after SSTS implementation. Second, we aimed to expand previous results on SSTS accuracy for identification of patients needing EVT, by investigating the system’s accuracy for patients requiring either EVT or acute ICH neurosurgery, and assess differences between triage-positive and triage-negative ICH patients.
 
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