Department of Neurosurgery
Health Check: New EMS Stroke Protocols
” ‘It’s a dramatic increase in good outcomes by coming to the right hospital the first time,’ said Dr. Mahesh Jayaraman, who is the director of the Neurovascular Center at Rhode Island Hospital. ‘We recognize while most strokes are minor strokes there’s a subset of strokes that are severe strokes, maybe 20 percent or so.’
George had a major blockage, which dictated he be brought directly to Rhode Island Hospital where they performed a procedure known as a thrombectomy.
‘We put a small hollow plastic tube called a catheter, typically through an artery in the leg would go up to where the blockage is and we use a small metallic device and grab the clot and pull the clot out of the artery of the brain,’ said Jayaraman.
Within an hour of arriving at the hospital, George’s clot was removed.
‘And about two hours later in the recovery room, George was almost back to normal,’ said Jayaraman.
‘I was ready to go home,’ said George, who was not quite ready to be released. ‘It was unbelievable.’
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