Run Time: 2 minutes
Author: Stephen Lee, PharmD, BCPS
- In 2016, a tertiary stroke center performed a study on the estimation of weight in stroke patients needing TPA. TPA can be a life and lifestyle saving medication for patients with acute CVA and getting an accurate weight is essential to giving the correct dose.
- The Stroke Center providers estimated the weight and gave the TPA dose. They found the lightest patients were overestimated and the heaviest patients were underestimated.
- It was found that 19.7% of the doses were given incorrectly and those that had the largest deviation of dose had the least improvement in NIH score.
- In a separate study done in 2004, doctors, nurses, and medical students and had them estimate the weight of the patient within five kilos. It was found that they were only correct 25% of the time.
- Moral of the story, don’t be sloppy! GET AN ACCURATE WEIGHT! It could mean a world of difference for a patient suffering a stroke.