TDNet Discover

Background: Mobile stroke units are increasingly being studied as an alternative to traditional stroke treatment within a hospital setting. These mobile stroke units are able to provide patients with access to more timely treatment within the “golden hour” and potentially reduce strokerelated deficits and mortality. Methods: A systematic review was performed to analyze the current available literature on utilizing mobile stroke units as compared to traditional hospital setting stroke treatment. Studies were independently searched and selected from various search engines with researched consensus in the review and selection process rigorously vetted. Then data extraction and validity assessments were performed on the included studies. The data was qualitatively analyzed by the team of researchers and presented the known data. Results: There were three studies included in this review. An observational registry study published by Kunz et al. and a comparative analysis by Tsivgoulis et al. found no statistical significance when comparing treatments of stroke using a mobile stroke unit versus the hospital setting. A randomized clinical trial by Helwig et al. however, concluded that patients were more accurately diagnosed with mobile stroke units than traditional hospital setting. Conclusions: Mobile stroke units do not definitively lead to better outcomes as compared to traditional in hospital treatment. They can, however, reach a population of people who potentially would not be able to be treated within the “golden hour”.