Comparison of Mechanical Thrombectomy Outcomes Before and During COVID-19 Pandemic

Objective: To evaluate the reflection of the pandemic on the management of acute stroke mechanical thrombectomy (MT). Methods:We retrospectively evaluated 100 acute ischemic stroke patients between March 1, 2019-Februray 29, 2020, and between March 1, 2020-March 1, 2021, who underwent (MT) at our institute.Patients were divided into two groups as those who underwent thrombectomy before the Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic (group 1) and those who underwent thrombectomy during the period of COVID-19 pandemic (group 2).All the diagnosis of stroke patients was confirmed by magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography.Demographics, clinical and laboratory data were recorded.The SPSS version 26.0 was used for statistical analysis.Results: A total of 100 patients, 50 before and 50 after the pandemic, were included in the study.No statistically significant difference was observed between the groups in terms of demographic data and risk factors.The time from symptom onset to groin puncture was significantly longer during the pandemic period than before (p=0.001).No significant difference was observed in the time from groin puncture to recanalization (p=0.251),recanalization rates (p=0.806)and the number of passes (p=0.889).There was no difference between the pre-pandemic and post-pandemic groups in terms of the frequency of intracranial hemorrhage (p=0.501),complication (p=0.153) and decompression (p=0.538) after thrombectomy.The modified Rankin scores scores at 3 months were similar (p=0.316). Conclusion:As a result, the time from symptom to procedure is prolonged in acute ischemic stroke patients who underwent MT in our center during the pandemic period.In the respect of procedural findings and outcomes of thrombectomy before and during pandemic, there had been no significant change at our center.