National survey on perioperative anaesthetic management in the endovascular treatment of acute ischaemic stroke.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the anaesthetic management of treatment for endovascular acute ischaemic stroke (AIS) in Spain.

MATERIALS AND METHOD: A survey was designed by the SEDAR Neuroscience Section and sent to the Spanish anaesthesiology departments with a primary stroke centre between July and November 2016.

RESULTS: Of the 47 hospitals where endovascular treatment of AIS is performed, 37 anaesthesiology departments participated. Thirty responses were obtained; three of which were eliminated due to duplication (response rate of 72.9%). Health coverage for AIS endovascular treatment was available 24hours a day in 63% of the hospitals. The anaesthesiologist in charge of the procedure was physically present in the hospital in 55.3%. There was large inter-hospital variability in non-standard monitoring and type of anaesthesia. The most important criterion for selecting type of anaesthesia was multidisciplinary choice made by the anaesthesiologist, neurologist and neuroradiologist (59.3%). The duration of time from arrival to arterial puncture was 10-15minutes in 59.2%. In 44.4%, systolic blood pressure was maintained between 140-180mmHg, and diastolic blood pressure<105mmHg. Glycaemic levels were taken in 81.5% of hospitals. Intravenous heparinisation was performed during the procedure in 66.7% with different patterns of action. In cases of moderate neurological deterioration with no added complications, 85.2% of the included hospitals awakened and extubated the patients.

CONCLUSIONS: The wide variability observed in the anaesthetic management and the organization of the endovascular treatment of AIS demonstrates the need to create common guidelines for anaesthesiologists in Spain.