Abstract 45: Thrombolytic Treatment for In-Hospital Ischemic Strokes in United States

BACKGROUND: Despite the recent emphasis on protocols for emergent triage and treatment of in-hospital acute ischemic stroke, there is little data on rates and outcomes of patients receiving thrombolytics for in-hospital ischemic strokes. OBJECTIVE: To determine the rates of in-hospital ischemic stroke treated with thrombolytics and to compare outcomes with patients treated with thrombolytics on admission. DESIGN/METHODS: We analyzed a seven-year data (2002-2009) from the National Inpatient Survey (NIS), a nationally representative inpatient database in the United States. We identified patients who had in-hospital ischemic strokes (defined by thrombolytic treatment after one day of hospitalization) and those who received thrombolytics on the admission day. We compared demographics, baseline clinical characteristics, in hospital complications, length of stay, hospitalization charges, and discharge disposition, between the two patient groups. RESULT: A total of 18036 (21.5%) and 65912 (78.5%) patients received thrombolytics for in-hospital and on admission acute ischemic stroke, respectively. In hospital complications such as pneumonia (5.0% vs. 3.4%, p=0.0006), deep venous thrombosis (1.9% vs. 0.6%, p<0.0001) and pulmonary embolism (0.8% vs. 0.4%, p=0.01) were significantly higher in the in-hospital group compared to on admission thrombolytic treated group. Hospital length of stay and mean hospital charges were not different between the two groups. Patients who had in-hospital strokes had had higher rates of in hospital mortality (12.1% vs. 10.6%, p=0.02). In a multivariate analysis, in-hospital thrombolytic treated group had higher in-hospital mortality after adjustment for age, gender and baseline clinical characteristics (odds ratio 0.84, 95% confidence interval 0.74-0.95, p=0.008). CONCLUSION/RELEVANCE: In current practice, one out of every five acute ischemic stroke patients treated with thrombolytics is receiving treatment for in-hospital strokes. The higher mortality and complicated hospitalization in such patients needs to be recognized.