Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) and Government Multispecialty Hospital (GMSH-16) have created a network on the hub-and-spoke principle to enhance
brain stroke treatment in
Chandigarh.
“To enhance stroke treatment in Chandigarh, GMSH-16 has become stroke ready and they have been treating acute strokes since April, 2019, in collaboration with PGIMER based on hub-and-spoke principle. We have treated around 35 cases under this collaboration,” said professor Dheeraj Khurana,department of Neurology, PGIMER, during the launch of an awareness campaign on brain strokes.
The hub-and-spoke model, a method applied in healthcare settings, involves the establishment of a main campus or hub, which receives the heaviest resource investments and supplies the most intensive medical services to other healthcare facilities.
He said the hospitals were collaborating to involve other healthcare facilities in the city, including other civil hospitals and Government Medical
College and Hospital, Sector
32.
Professor Vivek Lal, head of the neurology department, said these initiatives helped in distribution of resources.
“This initiative will help in increasing the capability of GMSH-16 and reduce the patient load in PGIMER,” Lal said.
The PGIMER has registered over 600 stroke patients with 340 patients reaching in the 24-hour window this year up to October, doctors said.
“In the last one year around 60 patients could get treated with interventional treatment methods such as thrombolysis and thrombectomy and out of these 50% of patients have recovered fully,” doctors said.
Doctors said with intervention method, they can completely remove clots from the brain and the treatment could be done even up to 24 hours as compared to the earlier windows of 4.5 hours with the clot-dissolving medicine such as Actilyse.
{{/usCountry}}Doctors said with intervention method, they can completely remove clots from the brain and the treatment could be done even up to 24 hours as compared to the earlier windows of 4.5 hours with the clot-dissolving medicine such as Actilyse.
{{/usCountry}}On an average, the brain stroke helpline receives around 20 calls a day from patients of the region to know about the treatment procedures.
“We apprise them of the procedure to follow in case of a stroke. We also refer patients to the nearest healthcare facility ,” Lal said.
Doctors said the neurology department at PGIMER was planning to start a rehabilitation unit for patients, who underwent treatment for brain stroke.
“Rehabilitation includes audiology, physiotherapy, psychiatry and neurology, which will first of the kind in the region. We have requested the administration for necessary support,” Dr Vivek Lal said.