Study finds mobile stroke units treat patients two times faster than regular ambulances
por Lauren Dubinsky, Senior Reporter | March 10, 2017
CT
Emergency Medicine
Health IT
Stroke
Telemedicine
X-Ray
Inside of Cleveland Clinic's
mobile stroke unit
mobile stroke unit
Mobile stroke units can help clinicians evaluate and treat patients almost two times faster than a regular ambulance, according to a study recently published online in the journal Neurology.
"Telemedicine makes it possible for a neurologist to see a stroke patient, and possibly treat them, before they even arrive in the hospital," Dr. Muhammad S. Hussain of Cleveland Clinic, said in a statement.
Cleveland Clinic first deployed its mobile stroke unit in 2014. On board there was a mobile CT scanner, telemedicine technology, a registered nurse, paramedic, emergency medical technician and CT technologist.
Hussain and his research team compared the care of the first 100 patients transported with the mobile stroke unit to 53 patients brought to the hospital in a regular ambulance in 2014. Both groups had similar stroke severity.
A vascular neurologist examined each patient in the mobile stroke unit via telemedicine on the way to the hospital. A neuroradiologist and vascular neurologist then evaluated the CT images taken during the ride.
For those transported with the mobile stroke unit, the time from the initial call to the CT scan was an average of 33 minutes, compared to 56 minutes for those in the regular ambulance. The average time until the patient received clot-busting drugs was 97 minutes, compared to 123 minutes.
Among the patients in the mobile stroke unit group, 16 received the clot-busting drugs and 25 percent of them received the drugs within an hour of the onset of symptoms.
The Cleveland Clinic researchers cautioned that the study was limited by its small sample size, and that those transported in a regular ambulance were only taken to hospitals in one health system.
The cost-effectiveness of mobile stroke units still remains to be known as well as their feasibility since fast wireless networks are required to transmit the images quickly.
“Ongoing efforts are needed to streamline mobile stroke unit costs and efficiency before achieving road-readiness for widespread health system deployment, ” Dr. Andrew M. Southerland of the University of Virginia Health System, wrote in an accompanying editorial.
Dr. Mayank Goyal of the University of Calgary told HCB News last year that mobile stroke units will only work if multiples are deployed, for example in a city like New York. If there is only one in an area, issues will arise when it's a long distance from the patient.
But despite these challenges, it's a growing market. The global mobile stroke unit market is expected to hit $9.4 million by 2022, according to a Grand View Research Inc. report from last year.
"Telemedicine makes it possible for a neurologist to see a stroke patient, and possibly treat them, before they even arrive in the hospital," Dr. Muhammad S. Hussain of Cleveland Clinic, said in a statement.
Cleveland Clinic first deployed its mobile stroke unit in 2014. On board there was a mobile CT scanner, telemedicine technology, a registered nurse, paramedic, emergency medical technician and CT technologist.
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Hussain and his research team compared the care of the first 100 patients transported with the mobile stroke unit to 53 patients brought to the hospital in a regular ambulance in 2014. Both groups had similar stroke severity.
A vascular neurologist examined each patient in the mobile stroke unit via telemedicine on the way to the hospital. A neuroradiologist and vascular neurologist then evaluated the CT images taken during the ride.
For those transported with the mobile stroke unit, the time from the initial call to the CT scan was an average of 33 minutes, compared to 56 minutes for those in the regular ambulance. The average time until the patient received clot-busting drugs was 97 minutes, compared to 123 minutes.
Among the patients in the mobile stroke unit group, 16 received the clot-busting drugs and 25 percent of them received the drugs within an hour of the onset of symptoms.
The Cleveland Clinic researchers cautioned that the study was limited by its small sample size, and that those transported in a regular ambulance were only taken to hospitals in one health system.
The cost-effectiveness of mobile stroke units still remains to be known as well as their feasibility since fast wireless networks are required to transmit the images quickly.
“Ongoing efforts are needed to streamline mobile stroke unit costs and efficiency before achieving road-readiness for widespread health system deployment, ” Dr. Andrew M. Southerland of the University of Virginia Health System, wrote in an accompanying editorial.
Dr. Mayank Goyal of the University of Calgary told HCB News last year that mobile stroke units will only work if multiples are deployed, for example in a city like New York. If there is only one in an area, issues will arise when it's a long distance from the patient.
But despite these challenges, it's a growing market. The global mobile stroke unit market is expected to hit $9.4 million by 2022, according to a Grand View Research Inc. report from last year.
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