More Timely Treatment for Potential Stroke Patients Arriving by Ambulance

A study out of North Carolina has found that patients with stroke symptoms receive brain scans more quickly when brought to the hospital by ambulance, compared to arrival by a personal car or taxi. For possible stroke patients, brain scans are necessary to diagnose whether or not a stroke has occurred. When a stroke or other condition as been diagnosed, the patient can receive the correct treatment more quickly.

The study, which included 14,000 patients, found that on average, brain scans took place more than 72 minutes after the patient arrived when coming by either a personal vehicle or car service. When patients arrived by ambulance and the hospital had been notified en route, brain scans were completed in less than 48 minutes.

Current guidelines recommend that possible stroke patients receive a brain scan within 25 minutes of hospital arrival. It is also recommended that doctors interpret the results within 20 minutes of the scan being performed. This study found that patients who arrived via ambulance were twice as likely to get a brain scan within the recommended 25 minute window. In addition, when the hospital was alerted by the ambulance that a possible stroke patient was coming, patients were nearly three times more likely to get a brain scan in the recommended time.

According to the American Stroke Association, almost 800,000 people suffer a stroke each year in the United States. Of those, more than one in six patients dies as a result of their stroke.

If you or a loved one has experienced a failure do diagnose or treat a stroke in a timely manner, call or email the medical malpractice attorneys at Silberstein, Awad & Miklos, P.C. today for a free case evaluation. One of our experienced attorneys will review your Queens stroke malpractice, Brooklyn stroke malpractice, Bronx stroke malpractice, Manhattan stroke malpractice or Long Island stroke malpractice case and answer any questions you may have.

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Surgical Site Infections Avoided with Cotton Swab Use

A recent study published in the Archives of Surgery has found that daily use of cotton swabs to clean surgical incision sites considerably reduces the risk of infection at the site.

According to the study authored by Dr. Shirin Towfigh, a surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, only about 3 percent of the appendectomy patients whose incision sites were swabbed with cotton every day developed an infection. Of the patients whose surgical sites were swabbed daily with iodine, 19 percent developed an infection at the site.

The reason for this dramatic decrease in the rate of infections, according to researchers, is that cotton swabs absorb any contaminated fluid, allowing it to drain from the soft tissues and reduce the amount of bacteria at the site.

Dr. Towfigh also found that patients in the cotton swab group had less pain following their surgery compared to those whose incision sites were swabbed with iodine. Additionally, their average hospital stay was only about five days, compared with the average seven day stay of those in the iodine group. The study also noted that the cotton swab group also experienced better cosmetic healing of their incision.

According to the report, over 500,000 surgical site infections occur annually in the U.S. Many of these infections can be prevented with proper management of the incision site by doctors and nurses.

If you or a loved one was injured by surgical malpractice in New York City or Long Island and have questions about the medical care you received, call or e-mail us today for a free consultation. Our experienced surgery malpractice attorneys have helped clients with Queens surgical malpractice, Bronx surgical malpractice, Brooklyn surgical malpractice, Manhattan surgical malpractice and Long Island surgical malpractice cases.

Call us toll-free 1-877-ASK4SAM