Effectiveness of Stroke Training Provided to Istanbul Medical Staff

Abstract

INTRODUCTION[|]Stroke is one of the most common causes of morbidity and mortality in the world and therapy is time-sensitive. The biggest obstacles to optimal treatment are pre-hospital transport delays and hesitation to administer intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (iv-tPA) and perform a mechanical thrombectomy (MT). A number of educational sessions were held in Istanbul to address these problems. This study examined the effects of this training.[¤]METHODS[|]This retrospective study was designed to analyze the effectiveness of stroke treatment training programs provided to 2645 medical personnel in Istanbul, Turkey. The transport time, accuracy rate of stroke diagnosis, and treatment parameters of a 1-month period in 2017 and the same month in 2018 after the training were evaluated.[¤]RESULTS[|]In all, 1628 suspected stroke patients who were transported to a hospital by ambulance in October 2017 (n=796) and October 2018 (n=832) were included. There was a minimal but meaningful decrease in pre-hospital transportation time (p<0.05). In 2017, 27% of the patients who were transported to the hospital with the suspicion of stroke were ultimately diagnosed with acute stroke, while 36% were diagnosed with acute stroke in 2018 (p<0.05). Applications of iv-tPA and MT to acute stroke patients also significantly increased in 2018 (tPA: 14% vs 26%, p=0.003; MT: 6% vs 13%, p=0.034).[¤]DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION[|]The analysis indicated that the educational programs targets were successful based on an increase in the diagnosis of stroke and use of iv-tPA and MT.[¤]

Keywords

• mechanical thrombectomy
• prehospital transportation
• stroke; stroke treatment; tissue plasminogen activator.