Is admission medically justified for all patients with acute stroke or transient ischemic attack?
STUDY OBJECTIVES: To determine whether admission to an acute care hospital is medically justified for all patients with acute stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) and whether those patients for whom admission is justified can be identified in the emergency department. DESIGN: Retrospective descriptive study. SETTING: Urban county teaching hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Consecutive adult patients seen in an ED with nonhemorrhagic stroke, TIA, or hemorrhagic stroke. METHODS: Admission to an acute care hospital was deemed medically justified when the patient had any of the following criteria: another diagnosis that warranted admission, an inadequate home situation, altered mental status, or an adverse event during hospitalization or if they underwent hospital-based treatment that could not be provided on an outpatient basis. RESULTS: One hundred sixty-eight patients were seen during a 1-year period: 120 had an ED diagnosis of nonhemorrhagic stroke, 22 had a diagnosis of TIA, and 26 had a di
Related Questions
- If all ischemic stroke and transient ischemic attack patients are to be placed on statin therapy within this program regardless of LDL levels, then why bother to check a baseline lipid level?
- CAN DWI IDENTIFY PATIENTS WITH STROKE SYMPTOMS WHO ARE IN FACT HAVING TRANSIENT ISCHEMIC ATTACKS (TIA)?
- Who Provides Care for Patients with Acute Ischemic Stroke?
