Posted: 08/02/2023
Every five minutes someone suffers a stroke in the UK. It is a shocking statistic, especially when strokes can happen very quickly, without warning and can affect children as well as older people. Even when someone receives good medical care and survives a stroke brain injury, they may be left with long-term disabilities.
If there is a delay in a stroke diagnosis and delayed treatment for it, more extensive neurological damage may occur, leaving a patient paralysed or permanently disabled. Brain injuries can have severe symptoms leading to loss of certain functions including speech, mobility and personality changes.
There are three main types of strokes - ischemic, embolic and haemorrhagic - which require different treatments:
Regardless of the type of stroke, rapid diagnosis and treatment are key to reducing long-term disability.
Given the severity of the symptoms a stroke can cause, it is essential that good medical care is given as a matter of urgency, even if it is deemed survivable. When an ischemic or embolic stroke has occurred and medical treatment is commenced within a six-hour window, medication called TPA can be given to reverse the effect of a stroke and to break up blood clots. The sooner the TPA is administered, the better the outcome.
Other more advanced treatment options may be available including CT-guided catheter delivery of clot-busting medication (direct to the location of the clot) and mechanical thrombectomy (where the clot is broken down by tiny surgical tools and removed through a blood vessel) to try to dissolve or remove the clot as quickly and efficiently as possible after the onset of symptoms.
The patient may then take aspirin and anticoagulants to reduce the chances of future blood clots. Where a haemorrhagic stroke has occurred, thrombolysis medication is not given as it would make the bleed worse and the brain injury more severe. Instead, a surgery called a craniotomy can be performed to reduce pressure on the brain. Again, time is of the essence as the longer the bleed has continued, the greater the brain damage it will have caused.
The following four actions are essential to save the life of a stroke patient and to preserve as much brain function as possible:
Tragically, about one in 10 cases of strokes are regularly misdiagnosed or diagnosed late. This is probably due to symptoms such as headache, vertigo, confused or slurred speech mimicking other conditions. However, failure to determine the specific type of stroke (ischaemic, embolic or haemorrhagic) or misdiagnosing a stroke as another illness or condition can drastically affect a patient's chance of recovery.
Strokes are no longer just happening to the elderly and can affect all age groups due to lifestyle choices, diet, health and underlying diseases. Approximately a quarter of strokes happen to a younger person or a child. Doctors will often refer to brain bleeds, rather than strokes, given the misconception that strokes only happen to older people.
A clinical negligence investigation can look into an incidence of suspected misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis of stroke if it is believed that earlier treatment would have made a difference and given the stroke patient a better outcome.
If a claim is proven, the level of compensation that may be due will depend upon the severity of a client’s injuries and the change in lifestyle they have suffered as a result. Stroke misdiagnosis claims do, however, like other severe brain injury damages claims, attract significant compensation.
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