Background and purpose: We evaluated the hypothesis that consultation with neurology would be associated with fewer protocol deviations in tissue plasminogen activator-treated patients with stroke.
Methods: A retrospective analysis of consecutive tissue plasminogen activator-treated patients with acute patients was performed. Using chi(2) tests, the proportion of patients with a protocol deviation was calculated and compared between those with evidence of a neurology consultation and those without. Logistic regression was then used to determine the OR for protocol deviation at the same time as controlling for clinical presentation covariates.
Results: Two hundred seventy-three subjects were included. Protocol deviation rates did not significantly differ between those with (44%) and those without (41%) a consultation. The adjusted OR for deviation comparing any consultation versus nonconsultation was 1.25 (95% CI: 0.58 to 2.68). There was no statistically significant difference between symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage and in-hospital mortality rates between the groups. The proportion of patients with pretreatment deviations not related to timing was low in both the consultation (9.7%) and nonconsultation groups (8.1%).
Conclusions: Neurological consultation was not found to be associated with decreased protocol deviations in this cohort, although the high proportion of deviations with and without consultation suggests that quality improvement is needed. Most observed pretreatment deviations were attributable to timing. As acute stroke care becomes more efficient and additional methods in reducing door-to-treatment times are sought, models in which emergency physicians direct the initial phase of treatment may merit further consideration.