The impact of a concurrent trauma alert evaluation on time to head computed tomography in patients with suspected stroke.
BACKGROUND
Emergency department (ED) overcrowding threatens quality of care by delaying the time to diagnosis and treatment of patients with time-sensitive diseases, such as acute stroke.


OBJECTIVE
The authors hypothesized that the presence of a trauma alert evaluation would impede the time to head computed tomography (hCT) in patients with stroke-like symptoms.


METHODS
This was a secondary analysis of prospectively collected data on patients with potential stroke who received an hCT in an urban trauma center ED from January 1, 2004, to November 30, 2004. Structured data collection included historical and examination items, National Institutes of Health (NIH) stroke scale score, laboratory and radiographic results, and final diagnosis. Admitted patients were followed in hospital. Patients who presented within one hour following a trauma evaluation were compared with patients who presented without concurrent trauma for triage time until completion of hCT. Chi-square, t-tests, and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were used for comparisons.


RESULTS
The 171 patients enrolled had a mean (+/- standard deviation) age of 60.7 (+/- 7) years; 60% were female; and 58% were African American. Of these, 72 patients had a significant cerebrovascular event (38 [22%] ischemic stroke, 25 [15%] transient ischemic attack, seven [4%] intracranial hemorrhage, one [0.6%] subarachnoid hemorrhage, and one [0.6%] subdural hematoma). The remaining diagnoses included 4.6% migraine, 2.3% seizure, 2.9% syncope, 2.3% Bell's palsy, and 2.9% vertigo. There was no significant difference in time to hCT in patients who presented during a trauma activation and those who did not (99 minutes [interquartile range (IQR) = 24-156] vs. 101 minutes [IQR = 43-151.5]; p = 0.537). In subgroup analysis of patients with a significant cerebrovascular event, times to hCT were also similar (24 minutes [IQR = 12-99] vs. 61 minutes [IQR = 15-126]; p = 0.26).


CONCLUSIONS
In the authors' institution, the presence of concurrent trauma evaluation does not delay CT imaging of patients with potential stroke.
Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA. esther.chen@uphs.upenn.edu
Esther H
EH
Chen
Angela M
AM
Mills
Bruce Y
BY
Lee
Jennifer L
JL
Robey
Kara E
KE
Zogby
Frances S
FS
Shofer
Patrick M
PM
Reilly
Judd E
JE
Hollander
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D006259:Craniocerebral Trauma / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004635:Emergency Medicine / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; D010414:Pennsylvania; D011446:Prospective Studies; D020521:Stroke / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D013997:Time Factors; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed