Hospital to start code stroke to save patients
Only three percent of people who develop stroke, a medical condition, and reach the hospital on time, survive. The rest either die or end up with paralysis as a result of brain damage, said city doctors.
Only three percent of people who develop stroke, a medical condition, and reach the hospital on time, survive. The rest either die or end up with paralysis as a result of brain damage, said city doctors.
Stroke is the brain equivalent of a heart attack, but not as popular. The concern came up during a discussion on the disorder held at a city hospital.
“With the increase in the life expectancy of Indians, those who will develop stroke will only increase further. Lifestyle diseases such as diabetes and hypertension increase the risk of stroke,” said Dr SM Katrak, head of neurology at Jaslok Hospital, Peddar Road.
In order to provide timely intervention, the south Mumbai hospital has laid down ‘code stroke’ similar to code blue, which is activated in the hospital when the patient with a suspected heart attack reaches the casualty.
It is common for hospitals to have set protocols for managing patients coming in with trauma and heart attacks. “By implementing code blue, we could save more patients coming in with heart attack. Hence, we decided to have code stroke to have a standard and timely response for patients with stroke,” said Dr Tarang Gianchandani, CEO of the hospital.
As a stroke is caused by the interruption of the blood supply to the brain, doctors have to restore the blood supply by radiological interventions within four to six hours. “If we restore the blood supply in time, paralysis and death can be averted,” said Dr Paresh Doshi, head of neurosurgery at the hospital.
