Background
Patients are at high risk for stroke following a transient ischemic attack (TIA).
The ideal setting for evaluating and treating patients with TIA has not been established,
resulting in variability in emergency department (ED) TIA management. We conducted
a survey to describe ED TIA management and factors that influence disposition determination
for TIA patients.
Methods
We administered a mail survey to 480 randomly selected members of the Michigan College
of Emergency Physicians. Survey questions addressed current ED TIA management, the
acceptability of the ABCD2 risk-stratification tool, and disposition recommendations for a series of hypothetical
TIA patients.
Results
A total of 188 (39%) responses were received. Head computed tomography (96.2%) and
antiplatelet therapy (88.2%) were the most commonly reported ED interventions. Over
85% of respondents reported admitting most or all TIA patients. The ABCD2 score had low acceptability among emergency medicine physicians and was rarely incorporated
into practice (10.7%). Respondents identified a short-term risk of stroke of less
than 2% (95% confidence interval: 1.6-2.4) as an acceptable threshold for discharge;
however, most respondents recommended admission even for low-risk TIA patients. Those
with access to an outpatient TIA clinic were less likely to admit low-risk TIA patients;
those with access to an observation unit were more likely to admit.
Conclusions
In this survey, ED physicians preferred hospital admission for most TIA patients,
including those at low risk for stroke. The ABCD2 risk-stratification tool had low acceptability. Further research is needed to refine
risk-stratification tools and define the optimal setting for TIA evaluations.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: March 31, 2016
Accepted:
February 19,
2016
Received:
January 8,
2016
Footnotes
This project was funded by a grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (1R03HS017740-01).
Identification
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jstrokecerebrovasdis.2016.02.028
Copyright
© 2016 National Stroke Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
