Presenter Status
Fellow
Abstract Type
Research
Primary Mentor
Marcie Files, MD
Start Date
16-5-2025 11:30 AM
End Date
16-5-2025 1:30 PM
Presentation Type
Poster Presentation
Description
Background: Stroke affects 2-3 per 100,000 children annually. Timely diagnosis is vital to provide the highest quality care to pediatric stroke patients. Features that contribute to delays in diagnosis of pediatric stroke include complex or subtle signs and symptoms, limited exams in young children, broad differential and frequent stroke mimics, low awareness in the community, and sedating or paralytic medication use in critically ill children. The establishment of stroke activation protocols for children has led to improvements in care for pediatric stroke across numerous centers, expediting time to imaging and treatment.
Objective: We aimed to quantify the time to imaging in stroke activations that occurred at Children’s Mercy Hospital between September 2016 and January 2020. Furthermore, we sought to determine if NIH-SS, hours since last known well, or patient age impacted the time from imaging to presentation in these cases.
Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of stroke activations from our center between September 2016 and January 2020 (N=88). We measured the time from triage with a nurse to MRI in these cases. Furthermore, we wanted to determine if NIH-SS score, hours from last known well, or age of the patient resulted in differences in time from presentation to time to imaging.
Linear regression with sample T-test and scatter plots were created.
Results:
The mean age at time of presentation 10.8 years (SD 6.38). Mean NIH-SS was 5.1 (SD 5.4). Time from presentation to triage to imaging was 141.3 minutes (SD 96.8).
There was no association of age (p=0.398) or stroke scale score (p=0.929) with time to imaging.
Conclusion:
It took on average 2 hours and 20 minutes from the time of presentation in triage to obtain imaging in children presenting to the Children’s Mercy Emergency Department and designated as stroke alerts. Age and the severity of stroke alert score had no significant effect on the time to imaging (p=0.398 and p=0.929).
There is an average delay from symptom onset to diagnosis in stroke in children of 24 hours. Continuing to optimize the stroke protocol for use in the ER and further training of staff on the importance of recognizing childhood stroke is an ongoing need to provide the highest quality stroke care to these patients.
Included in
Higher Education and Teaching Commons, Medical Education Commons, Pediatrics Commons, Science and Mathematics Education Commons
Time from Triage to Imaging in Stroke Activations at Children’s Mercy Hospital
Background: Stroke affects 2-3 per 100,000 children annually. Timely diagnosis is vital to provide the highest quality care to pediatric stroke patients. Features that contribute to delays in diagnosis of pediatric stroke include complex or subtle signs and symptoms, limited exams in young children, broad differential and frequent stroke mimics, low awareness in the community, and sedating or paralytic medication use in critically ill children. The establishment of stroke activation protocols for children has led to improvements in care for pediatric stroke across numerous centers, expediting time to imaging and treatment.
Objective: We aimed to quantify the time to imaging in stroke activations that occurred at Children’s Mercy Hospital between September 2016 and January 2020. Furthermore, we sought to determine if NIH-SS, hours since last known well, or patient age impacted the time from imaging to presentation in these cases.
Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of stroke activations from our center between September 2016 and January 2020 (N=88). We measured the time from triage with a nurse to MRI in these cases. Furthermore, we wanted to determine if NIH-SS score, hours from last known well, or age of the patient resulted in differences in time from presentation to time to imaging.
Linear regression with sample T-test and scatter plots were created.
Results:
The mean age at time of presentation 10.8 years (SD 6.38). Mean NIH-SS was 5.1 (SD 5.4). Time from presentation to triage to imaging was 141.3 minutes (SD 96.8).
There was no association of age (p=0.398) or stroke scale score (p=0.929) with time to imaging.
Conclusion:
It took on average 2 hours and 20 minutes from the time of presentation in triage to obtain imaging in children presenting to the Children’s Mercy Emergency Department and designated as stroke alerts. Age and the severity of stroke alert score had no significant effect on the time to imaging (p=0.398 and p=0.929).
There is an average delay from symptom onset to diagnosis in stroke in children of 24 hours. Continuing to optimize the stroke protocol for use in the ER and further training of staff on the importance of recognizing childhood stroke is an ongoing need to provide the highest quality stroke care to these patients.
