The goal of this prospective cohort study was to develop and test a 12-item, nurse-led predictive checklist that can quickly identify patients at high risk for neurological complications (bleeding, re-blockage, brain swelling, etc.) after endovascular therapy (EVT) for stroke or unruptured aneurysms. The main questions it aims to answer are:
Does the checklist accurately flag complications (sensitivity/specificity)? Does its use shorten the time between first abnormal sign and physician action? Does it lower the rate of severe complications or death and shorten hospital stay? Researchers compared 213 patients managed with the checklist (intervention group) to 213 patients who received standard nursing observation (control group).
Participants were:
Assessed by nurses at 6, 12, 24, and 48 hours post-EVT with the checklist (intervention) or usual monitoring (control) Followed for 7 days for any neurological complication and for 30 days for severe outcomes Checked with urgent CT/MRI and treated whenever the checklist score indicated high risk (≥4/12 points)