The Year Embolectomy Won: a Review of Five Trials Assessing the Efficacy of Mechanical Intervention in Acute Stroke

Embolectomy with stentriever devices is the newest treatment for acute stroke. Since 1995, treatment of acute stroke has been limited to a 4.5-h window with the use of intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (tPA). Five articles have been published in 2015 with the results supporting the paired treatment of tPA and embolectomy. This has also expanded the treatment window to greater than 4.5 h and produced evidence which will guide selection of patients that will benefit most from this therapy. This article will compare and contrast this most recent evidence.