An audit of the pharmacological management of ischaemic stroke patients in a metropolitan Australian hospital

Background According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, stroke is the second leading cause of death in Australia. The clinical Guidelines for stroke management published by the National Stroke Foundation provide a series of evidence based recommendations to assist clinicians in the management of stroke patients. Appropriate management of patients admitted to stroke units reduces death and disability by 20 %. Moreover, a multidisciplinary team approach also improves patient outcomes. Objective To retrospectively review the pharmacological management of ischaemic stroke patients in a metropolitan Australian hospital, and to compare adherence with the guidelines for stroke management with the national stroke foundation data with and without pharmacist intervention. Method A retrospective audit of medical records was undertaken of all patients admitted to a large teaching hospital with the diagnosis of stroke or cerebral infarction from January 2013 to May 2013. Results A total of 124 patients were included in the study. Most patients were discharged on appropriate pharmacological intervention for the prevention of secondary stroke: antihypertensive agents (71 %), lipid lowering agents (67 %) and antithrombotic (85 %) medications. Conclusion The majority of the cohort was discharged on the appropriate evidence based medications for the management of secondary stroke. Further improvement may be achieved by pharmacist intervening as part of a multidisciplinary team.