Authors (including presenting author) :
Fung NT (1), Lo SM (1), Yiu HC (1), Shek CW (1), Yeung SY (1), Tsang ACO (2)
Affiliation :
(1) Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, Queen Mary Hospital (2) Department of Surgery, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine,
The University of Hong Kong
Introduction :
Benefit of reperfusion therapy in acute ischemic stroke is strongly time dependent. In an acute ischemic stroke due to large vessel occlusion, every minute goes by, 1.9 million neurons die leading to irreversible brain damage. In order to re-establish cerebral perfusion, intra-arterial thrombectomy (IAT) is recognized the gold standard therapy in stroke treatment. Coordination of safe, rapid and smooth patient transfer to an interventional suite is of vital importance for saving brain tissue.
Objectives :
A structured patient transfer workflow has been developed. This study aims to measure the compliance of staff with the workflow.
Methodology :
This study was implemented in Queen Mary Hospital from March 2020 to September 2020. Interviews were conducted with nurses responsible for admissions of patient receiving IAT. Questions were categorized into five major workflow steps of "Decided for IAT", "Notification by 1st call medical officer/neurosurgeon", "10 minutes before patient arrival to QMH", "Patient arrival to venue" and "Post-IAT".
Result & Outcome :
A total of 10 clinical admissions were reviewed. Two of them were excluded as patients involved were ineligible IAT candidates. Overall compliance with the workflow was 99.6%.
High staff compliance with the workflow enabled seamless patient transfer to the interventional suites for IAT.