Analysis of Mechanical Thrombectomy for Acute Ischemic Stroke on Nights and Weekends Versus Weekdays at Comprehensive Stroke Centers

•Hospital care on nights/weekends has been shown to be poorer than during normal business hours.•Thrombectomy for acute ischemic stroke has not been well-studied with respect to this “weekend effect.”•Acute ischemic stroke patients presenting on nights/weekends had longer times from symptom onset to presentation.•Door-to-groin times are delayed for thrombectomies performed on nights/weekends but the groin-to-reperfusion and patient outcomes are unchanged compared to thrombectomies performed during normal business hours. The “weekend effect” has been shown to affect outcomes in acute ischemic stroke. We sought to compare metrics and outcomes of emergent stroke thrombectomy at three affiliated comprehensive stroke centers on weekdays versus nights/weekends for a three-year period beginning in 2015, when thrombectomy became common practice for large vessel occlusion acute ischemic stroke. We performed a retrospective analysis of all stroke thrombectomy patients treated from 2015 to 2018 to compare standard thrombectomy metrics and outcomes in patients presenting during weekdays or nights/weekends. Two hundred-sixteen mechanical thrombectomy cases were evaluated, with 50.9% of patients presenting on weekdays and 49.1% presenting on nights/weekends. There were no statistical differences in baseline characteristics in demographics, stroke risk factors, or stroke severity, but patients presenting on nights/weekends had longer times from last known normal to presentation (130 versus 72.5 minutes, p=0.03). Door-to-groin times were delayed in patients presenting on nights/weekends compared to weekdays (median 104.5 versus 86 minutes, respectively; p=0.007) but groin-to-reperfusion times were similar (51.5 versus 48 minutes, respectively; p=0.4). Successful reperfusion was similar in both groups (90.6% nights/weekends versus 90% weekdays; p=1.0) as were the incidence of symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage (10.4% nights/weekend versus 7.3% weekdays; p=0.48) and 90-day good functional outcomes based on the modified Rankin Scale did not differ between the two groups in a shift analysis (p=0.545). Despite delays in door-to-groin puncture times in acute ischemic stroke patients presenting on nights/weekends compared to weekdays, we did not identify significant differences in successful reperfusion or functional outcomes in this cohort. Further studies are warranted to continue to evaluate differences in stroke care on nights/weekends versus weekdays.