Endovascular thrombectomy is a procedure to mechanically remove a clot from a large cerebral artery in acute ischemic stroke, and it has become a standard of care for eligible large-vessel strokes within a defined treatment window. Its emergence has reshaped stroke litigation, because the availability of an effective time-limited treatment sharpens the consequences of any delay in diagnosis or transfer.
Allegations in this area commonly concern failure to recognize a large-vessel stroke, failure to obtain timely vascular imaging, and failure to arrange urgent transfer to a regional stroke centre capable of performing thrombectomy within the window. The standard of care is a matter of expert evidence from emergency medicine, neurology, and interventional neuroradiology, calibrated to the resources and pathways realistically available, and causation turns on whether timely access to thrombectomy would have improved the neurological outcome.
Posts tagged Endovascular Thrombectomy analyze Ontario and other Canadian decisions involving access to and the timing of thrombectomy in acute stroke care.
The Court of Appeal affirmed plaintiff causation in a stroke malpractice case, holding that defendants cannot rely on evidentiary gaps their own negligence created.
Roughly 9% of strokes are initially misdiagnosed in the emergency setting. A practical guide to how stroke claims are investigated and proven in Ontario.
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