PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Waleed M. Alzahrani
AU  - Afnan A. Sulaiman
AU  - Mohammed M. Babakkor
AU  - Ziad E. Aljundi
AU  - Hamad M. Alhilabi
AU  - Rawan A. Aldhahwani
TI  - Impact of implementing a stroke code on the door to needle time during Hajj at a tertiary center in Makkah, Saudi Arabia
AID  - 10.17712/nsj.2023.3.20220141
DP  - 2023 Jul 01
TA  - Neurosciences Journal
PG  - 190--194
VI  - 28
IP  - 3
4099  - http://nsj.org.sa/content/28/3/190.short
4100  - http://nsj.org.sa/content/28/3/190.full
SO  - Neurosciences (Riyadh)2023 Jul 01; 28
AB  - Objectives: To assess the impact of a stroke code on the door to needle time during Hajj at a tertiary center in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. Stroke is one of the most common medical problems globally. Tissue plasminogen activator is an effective treatment in patients with acute ischemic stroke. However, its efficacy is time-dependent.Methods: We conducted a retrospective study on acute ischemic stroke patients who presented within the study window and were eligible for intravenous thrombolysis therapy at King Abdullah Medical City in Makkah between September 1, 2015 and July 2020.Results: Sixty-nine patients received intravenous tissue plasminogen activator and enrolled in this study, 28 patients of which presented during the Hajj period. We found a statistically significant reduction in both the door to needle time and the door to computed tomography time during the Hajj period. In addition, the length of hospital stay reduced significantly in the same periodConclusion: We observed a 44% reduction in the door to needle time during the implementation of the stroke code. However, we did not observe a significant difference in clinical outcomes. This study is limited by its small sample size and it lacks a long follow-up for clinical conditions.