Improved door-to-needle times and neurologic outcomes when IV tissue plasminogen activator is administered by emergency physicians with advanced neuroscience training.

Background: The neurologic emergency department (neuro ED) at our medical center is staffed by emergency medicine physicians who have specialized neuroscience training and give intravenous (IV) tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) independently for acute ischemic stroke patients. Door-to-needle (DTN) times, discharge location, and discharge National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) scores were studied between the neuro ED and main emergency department (ED) with the hypothesis that all measures would be better in the neuro ED group.

Methods: This is a retrospective study evaluating DTN time, discharge outcomes, and discharge location in acute stroke patients who received IV tPA at our comprehensive stroke center.