Air retrieval for clot retrieval; time-metrics and outcomes of stroke patients from rural and remote regions air-transported for mechanical thrombectomy at a state stroke unit

摘要

Background: Providing thrombectomy services to rural or remote regions with small, dispersed populations presents a particular challenge. Sustaining local thrombectomy services is not viable given the low throughput of cases, therefore large vessel occlusion (LVO) stroke patients require emergent transfer, often by air, to the closest high volume urban thrombectomy unit. The aim of this paper is to present logistical, time-metric data and outcome data on LVO stroke patients that have been aeromedically retrieved for thrombectomy from the vast, 2,500,000-km(2) rural catchment of the Western Australian state thrombectomy unit.