Abstract
Purpose: In ultra-acute stroke treatment, our hospital revised the manual by inducing a single call activation system and promoting multidisciplinary cooperation. Clinical laboratory technologists perform emergent carotid ultrasonography. We investigated the effect of the revised manual.
Methods: We compared the therapeutic time before and after induction of the revised manual. In addition, we conducted questionnaires with doctors and clinical laboratory technologists.
Results: We investigated 36 cases before the induction of the revised manual and 24 patients after. Door-to-needle time was significantly shortened after induction of the revised manual (71.02min vs. 33.33min). According to questionnaires, emergent carotid ultrasonography by clinical laboratory technologists reduced the burden on doctors and assisted in policy decisions for therapy because the results of carotid ultrasonography suggested the etiologies. The revised manual revealed that clinical laboratory technologists were not experienced enough with the emergent situation to perform ultrasonography precisely. In addition, the system of holiday/night time should be discussed.
Conclusions: The revised manual and routinized emergent carotid ultrasonography by clinical laboratory technologists improved the quality of ultra-acute stroke treatment. Moreover, for the clinical laboratory technologists, it becomes a valuable multidisciplinary cooperation.
