Rescue stenting for acute ischemic stroke with refractory emergent large vessel occlusion in the modern thrombectomy era

Background and purpose: Rescue stenting is used as a bailout technique during mechanical thrombectomy for stroke. We performed a retrospective study analyzing outcomes of patients that received a stent as a bailout measure and compared results to a control group. Methods: We identified all patients who underwent a mechanical thrombectomy for a large vessel occlusion between January 2010 and October 2019. Subjects with mTICI 0–2 A after at least three passes were defined as failed MT and constituted the control group (NSG-controls). Patients that received a rescue stent (RSG) formed the study group. Results: Comparative analysis of patient demographics between NSG-controls and SRG was performed. Baseline characteristics and comorbidities were not significantly different between both groups. NIHSS at admission and IV t-PA were not significantly different among both groups (16.5 vs. 14.2, p = 0.19) and (39.4% vs. 29.4%, p = 0.30), respectively. There was no significant difference in procedural and post-procedural complications between both the groups. In the RSG, 24 patients (82.4%) achieved favorable revascularization outcomes. NIHSS at discharge (p = 0.01) was higher in the NSG-controls, while favorable functional outcome at three months (12% vs. 39.2%, p = 0.01) was observed at a higher proportion in the RSG. There was also a significant mortality difference, with 15.2% mortality in the RSG compared to 35.1% mortality in the NSG-controls (p = 0.03). In multivariate analysis, stenting was an independent predictor of favorable outcome (OR: 10.0, p = 0.009). Conclusion: Herein, we demonstrated that rescue stenting is a feasible, safe, and effective procedure to improve stroke outcomes and should be seriously considered if the primary mechanical thrombectomy is not successful.