Mechanical Thrombectomy

Mechanical thrombectomy is a treatment for stroke that removes clots that block large blood vessels. Some patients may be candidates for this procedure using an angiogram or a catheterization and a device that grabs clots and removes them, to re-establish blood flow to the brain. Unfortunately, not everyone is a candidate for mechanical thrombectomy, because it requires that a patient has a large vessel that’s blocked.

NHS England announced in April 2017 that it will commission mechanical thrombectomy so it can become more widely available for patients who have certain types of acute ischaemic stroke.

In 2016, St George’s Hospital became the first, and to date only, hospital in the UK to have a fully staffed 24/7 mechanical thrombectomy service for acute stroke.

The Atkinson Morley Regional Neurosciences Centre at St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is where the emergency treatment is undertaken with a highly-skilled team with staff from Interventional Neuroradiology, Stroke and Neuroanaesthesia.

After treatment, patients are often admitted to William Drummond ward to recover before going back to their usual place of residence