Clinical outcomes of patients after using prehospital fibrinolytic therapy: a systematic review

Abstract

Objective:

To compare clinical outcomes of death, reinfarction, and stroke in primary studies assessing Fibrinolytic Therapy (FT) use in relation to Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PPCI) for myocardial reperfusion in patients with ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI) in prehospital care.

Method:

A systematic literature review conducted in the CINAHL, MEDLINE, PUBMED, Science Direct, SCOPUS, and Web of Science databases from October to December 2017. Randomized Clinical Trials, available in full, in any language, without temporal clipping were included. The eligibility assessment was carried out in two stages and applied to the Jadad Scale for methodological assessment of the studies found.

Results:

Five Randomized Clinical Trials were included. Prehospital FT presented mortality rates at 30 days after the intervention similar to PPCI, while in five years lower values were found for FT. The treatment instituted in a period of less than two hours of the initial symptoms was associated with the decrease in mortality when FT was used. Non-fatal reinfarction, stroke and intracranial hemorrhage were higher when FT was used, while cardiogenic shock showed lower frequency.

Conclusion:

FT was more effective in prehospital treatment to reduce deaths after five years, however, reinfarction and stroke occurred similarly in the sample analyzed. The time factor reduced clinical outcomes, especially when the implemented therapy occurred within two hours after the occurrence of STEMI. Thus, although the interventions presented similar outcomes. However, FT may represent a viable treatment in places where PPCI cannot be achieved in a timely manner.

Keywords
Myocardial infarction; Thrombolytic therapy; Fibrinolytic agents; Emergency medical services