ABSTRACT
Acute stroke interventions for all forms of stroke that have been proven to be of benefit based on level 1 evidence include the management of patients in stroke units (ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke), use of oral aspirin within 48 hours (ischemic stroke only), and intravenous (IV) tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) within three hours of stroke onset (ischemic stroke only) (1-4). The number needed to treat (NNT) to benefit one person for stroke unit management is 18 (morbidity and mortality), for tPA is 10 (morbidity) and for aspirin is 83 (mortality). For aspirin, there is a strong possibility that the benefit is an early secondary preventive effect, so will not be discussed further.
