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Optimized Management of Endovascular Treatment for Acute Ischemic Stroke
Published on: January 18, 2018
Stroke management
Elizabeth Warburton1, Josef A Alawneh, Philip L Clatworthy
1Neuroscience's Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge, UK.
Insights
This systematic review examines treatments for acute stroke, including specialized care and medical interventions like aspirin and thrombolysis. It evaluates the effectiveness and safety of various stroke treatments based on 41 studies.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Clinical Medicine
- Evidence-Based Practice
Background:
- Stroke is a leading cause of death globally, affecting millions annually.
- Ischaemic strokes, caused by artery blockages, constitute 80% of acute cases.
- Cerebral haemorrhages account for the remaining stroke cases.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically review the effects of specialized care in acute stroke patients.
- To evaluate the efficacy and safety of medical treatments for acute ischaemic stroke.
- To assess interventions including decompressive hemicraniectomy and surgical evacuation for intracerebral haematomas.
Main Methods:
- Conducted a systematic review of 41 studies including systematic reviews, RCTs, and observational studies.
- Searched major databases (Medline, Embase, Cochrane Library) up to August 2010.
- Included harms alerts from regulatory agencies like the FDA and MHRA.
Main Results:
- Identified evidence for various interventions including blood pressure reduction, aspirin, and thrombolysis.
- Evaluated the effectiveness of specialized stroke care and decompressive hemicraniectomy.
- Assessed systemic anticoagulation and neuroprotective agents.
Conclusions:
- Presents information on the effectiveness and safety of multiple acute stroke interventions.
- Highlights the importance of evidence-based treatments for stroke management.
- Provides a comprehensive overview of interventions for ischaemic and haemorrhagic stroke.
Introduction:
Stroke is the third most common cause of death in most developed countries. It is a worldwide problem; about 4.5 million people die from stroke each year. Stroke can occur at any age, but half of all strokes occur in people aged over 70 years. About 80% of all acute strokes are ischaemic, usually resulting from thrombotic or embolic occlusion of a cerebral artery. The remainder are caused either by intracerebral or subarachnoid haemorrhage.
Methods And Outcomes:
We conducted a systematic review and aimed to answer the following clinical questions: What are the effects of specialised care in people with acute stroke? What are the effects of medical treatment in people with acute ischaemic stroke? What are the effects of decompressive hemicraniectomy in acute ischaemic stroke? What are the effects of surgical evacuation for intracerebral haematomas? We searched: Medline, Embase, The Cochrane Library, and other important databases up to August 2010 (Clinical Evidence reviews are updated periodically, please check our website for the most up-to-date version of this review). We included harms alerts from relevant organisations such as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
Results:
We found 41 systematic reviews, RCTs, or observational studies that met our inclusion criteria. We performed a GRADE evaluation of the quality of evidence for interventions.
Conclusions:
In this systematic review we present information relating to the effectiveness and safety of the following interventions: acute reduction in blood pressure, aspirin, evacuation (early surgical evacuation, or conservative treatment), decompressive hemicraniectomy, neuroprotective agents (calcium channel blockers, citicoline, gamma-aminobutyric acid agonists, glycine antagonists, lubeluzole, magnesium, N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonists), specialised stroke care, systemic anticoagulation (heparinoids, specific thrombin inhibitors, low molecular weight heparin, oral anticoagulants, unfractionated heparin), and thrombolysis.
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