There have been multiple studies performed over the years to prove the efficacy of the pre-hospital administration of thrombolytics. One study involved 360 patients with symptoms for 6 hours or less. This trial group represented 4% of patients with chest pain who were screened and 21% with an acute infarction. The conclusion was that there was no improvement in outcome associated with initiating pre-hospital treatment; however, treatment within 70 minutes of symptom onset minimized the infarct process and its complications. [19] |