Stroke Patients on Clot Busting Drug Many Not Need Long ICU Stay

A recent study conducted by Johns Hopkins University found that stroke patients who receive prompt hospital treatment with the clot-busting drug called tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) can avoid lengthy, restrictive monitoring in an intensive care unit (ICU). The study challenges the long-standing protocol that mandates intensive monitoring, mostly done in ICUs, for the first 24 hours after tPA infusion — to catch bleeding in the brain — a side effect seen in six percent of patients treated with the medication. The research team analyzed data from 153 stroke patients admitted to the emergency departments of the Johns Hopkins Hospital and Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center between 2010 and 2013. Results from the study that show that a relatively simple measure of stroke severity can accurately determine which patients need ICU monitoring and which can be managed outside of a critical-care setting. After taking into account differences in age, sex, race, and various health factors, researchers found the best predictor of need for intensive care was a patient’s score on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Stroke Scale, a tool administered at the bedside involving 15 measures and observations. To read more about this study, click here.