Minimising time to treatment: Targeted strategies to minimise time to thrombolysis for acute ischaemic stroke

Abstract

Time to thrombolysis is a critical determinant of favourable outcomes in acute ischaemic stroke. It is not infrequent that patient outcomes are compromised due to out-of-hospital and in-hospital time delays. On the other hand, time delays could be minimised through the identification of barriers and the implementation of targeted solutions. This review outlines the different strategies in minimising treatment delays and offers recommendations. Literature search in PubMed, Medline and EBSCO Host was conducted to identify studies that are relevant to reduction of time to treatment from January 1995 to December 2012. Strategies to reduce time to thrombolysis are categorised into pre-hospital st..