I recently published a series on blunt carotid and vertebral artery injury (BCVI). Today, I’ll review an AAST abstract that details the results of a multicenter study on the timing of medical treatment of this condition. This typically takes the form of anti-platelet agents, usually aspirin.
The trial collected prospective, observational data from 16 trauma centers. Patients had to receive medical therapy at some time after their injury or they were excluded. The stroke consequences of early vs late medical therapy were evaluated, where late was defined at > 24 hours.
Here are the factoids:
- There were 636 BCVI included in the study
- Median time to first medical therapy was 11 hours in the early group and 62 hours in the late group
- ISS was higher in the delayed group (26 vs 22); although this was “statistically significant”, it is probably not a clinically significant difference
- There was no increase in stroke rate with later administration of medical treatment
Bottom line: This is a very interesting study. We always worry about missing BCVI (see my previous post here), and now we know a little more about what happens if we do. The authors suggest that the stroke rate does not go up if medical management is delayed, say for some other potential bleeding issue.
This is a reasonably large data set, but the key thing to consider is the time frame observed. The median delay to medical management was only about 2.5 days. Were there any strokes involved in the patients with much longer delays? That is the real question. And were there any strokes that occurred despite early/immediate medical management?
The descriptive statistics and simple analyses presented do not provide all of the information we need. A stoke is a very significant adverse event for the patient. Statistical means are fine, but information on the specific patients who suffered one is necessary to truly understand this issue.
Here is my question for the presenter and authors:
- Please break down the details on all patients who suffered a stroke. It will be very interesting to see if there were any in the early group and if there was a trend toward stroke in the very late tail data.
Reference: DOES TREATMENT DELAY FOR BLUNT CEREBROVASCULAR INJURY AFFECT STROKE RATE?: AN EAST MULTICENTERTRIAL. AAST 2021, Oral abstract #23.