Long-Term Impact of Implementation of a Stroke Protocol on Door-to-Needle Time in the Administration of Intravenous Tissue Plasminogen Activator

Background This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of implementing a stroke protocol (SP) in improving door-to-needle time (DTNT) and door-to-computed tomography (DTCT) time from 2010 to 2014. Published data from the Get With The Guidelines-Stroke (GWTGS) participating hospitals showed that median DTNT = 75 minutes with 26.6% of the patients achieving the recommended DTNT of 60 minutes or less. Implementation of an SP, which specifies the role of nurses, physicians, and technicians during acute stroke evaluation, can improve DTNT. Methods This longitudinal quality assurance study was designed to compare the DTNT and the DTCT time pre- and post implementation of an SP in our hospital. Patients' data before (2009-2010) and after (2010-2014) the implementation of an SP were collected each year during the same 6-month period and compared using statistical software SPSS 20.0 for Windows (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL). Results Although our DTNT did not significantly improve over the years, the median DTNT (59 minutes) was much less than the reported 75 minutes of GWTGS hospitals. Our DTCT time diminished from 20.6 minutes in 2009 to 15.9 minutes in 2014. The percentage of patients with a DTNT of 1 hour or less did not differ among all years (P =.296) and was 55.8%. Conclusions Our study suggests that our performance in evaluating acute ischemic stroke patients within the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association suggested time window is reachable for prolonged periods of time. Continuous monitoring and education of all players involved are crucial to ensure best possible outcomes in the timely administration of intravenous tissue plasminogen activator.