Door to needle time in administering thrombolytic therapy for acute myocardial infarction

OBJECTIVE: Thrombolytic therapy is a standard treatment for patients presenting with acute myocardial infarction (MI). Early administration of these agents is crucial for the outcome of management. This audit was conducted to evaluate the time between arrival to emergency department (ED) and the administration of thrombolysis (door to needle time).

METHODS: Data was collected from patients admitted to the Coronary Care Unit of Riyadh Medical Complex (RMC), Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a 1500-bed community hospital, with a diagnosis of acute MI and received thrombolytic therapy over a one-year period (April 1999 to April 2000). The time between arrival to the ED to the time of administration of thrombolytic therapy was obtained as well as the time of onset of chest pain up to presentation to the hospital, and the outcome (all cause mortality) post treatment.

RESULTS: A total of 271 patients (256 males) admitted to RMC with a diagnosis of acute MI received thrombolytic therapy over a one-year duration. The median door to needle time was 95 minutes. The median time of onset of chest pain to arrival to ED was 5 hours (300 minutes). The outcome of these patients obtained either alive was 260 (96%) or dead was 11 (4%) (P < 0.00001).

CONCLUSION: The door to needle time was relatively similar to other centers. The delay in administering thrombolytic therapy should be reduced to a target of <70 minutes from onset of symptoms. Delay in presentation to the hospital was more important and factors contributing to this delay should be looked for and corrected. Another audit is needed to evaluate the implementation of these recommendations.