After concluding studies with researchers around the world, specialists have been rolling out a new technique for treating ischemic strokes with dramatic results. Stroke is the leading cause of disability in Canada and the third leading cause of death. The incidence of stroke is increasing and is affecting young people more than in the past.
The standard treatment for a blood clot in the brain is to administer drugs which dissolve it and restore the flow of blood to the brain. But sometimes when the clot is big that doesn’t work.
In such case the new procedure could be used whereby a tiny catheter is inserted into an artery near the groin. It is tracked by x-ray as it is fed up to the brain. There the end is expanded and it secures the clot which is then pulled out. This allows the blood to resume flowing through the brain and stops the damage that would otherwise occur.
ListenRescuing a patient ‘is pretty outstanding’
Dr. Michael Hill is the senior author of the study and a stroke neurologist in the western city of Calgary. “I can tell you from a personal level in treating stroke patients, it’s pretty fantastic to have somebody come in and they’re devastated, they’re paralysed, they can’t speak, they’re on the way to a really bad neurological injury. And if you can rescue them and restore the blood flow, you reduce or minimize the damage and these folks are walking out of hospital in two or three days back into their lives, it’s pretty outstanding.”
The new procedure called a thrombectomy is offered in 22 hospitals in Canada. Hill says it is a highly technical procedure that can only be done in large hospitals in Canada and the rest of the world.
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