SIR publishes endovascular stroke treatment training guidelines

The Society of Interventional Radiology’s (SIR) updated training guidelines for radiologists performing endovascular thrombectomy to treat acute ischemic stroke have been published in the Sept. 3, 2019, online edition of the Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology.

The guidelines detail cognitive and procedural skills needed to safely and effectively perform endovascular thrombectomies (EVTs). The guidelines cover patient diagnosis and selection, brain imaging competencies, the ability to identify and manage complications, and clinical patient care before, during, and after the procedure.

A committee of 17 experts in stroke care and/or developing training curricula prepared the guidelines, which replace those published in 2009 for intra-arterial catheter-directed treatment of acute ischemic stroke.

The guidelines identify three key components of adequate training to acquire the competency of performing endovascular interventional procedures for acute ischemic stroke. They are:

• Formal training to provide cognitive knowledge of the brain and its associated pathophysiologic vascular processes, clinical syndromes, the full array of ischemic stroke presentations, and pre-, peri-, and postprocedural care;
• Procedural skill, including management of complications secondary to endovascular procedures, that is achieved by supervised training by a qualified instructor; and
• Diagnostic and therapeutic acumen, including the ability to recognize procedural/angiographic complications.

The detailed guidelines are open access.

REFERENCE

1. Sacks D, Mazen KA, Ahn SH, et al. Society of Interventional Radiology training guidelines for endovascular stroke treatment. J Vasc Interv Radiol. Published online September 3, 2019. doi: 10.1016/j.jvir.2019.08.018.