Neurointensive
Care Unit

Welcome

For critically ill stroke patients, the Emory Stroke Center has a Neurointensive Care Unit specifically designed for treating patients with critical neurological illnesses.

The benefit of neurocritical care for patients who are admitted to Emory University Hospital with stroke has been truly remarkable. Patients are spending less time in the intensive care unit (ICU), having fewer complications and are more likely to be discharged home from the hospital rather than going to a nursing home. – Owen Samuels, MD, Assistant Professor of Neurology and Neurosurgery & Director of Neurocritical Care at Emory

Neurointensive Care Unit Benefits

  • We have a team of stroke specialists in the neurointensive care unit. This includes neurointensivists who specialize in emergency care for stroke, interventional neuroradiologists who specialize in stroke diagnosis and less-invasive treatments, neurosurgeons, neurologists, and pharmacists, and nurses explicitly trained in stroke care.
  • The team works closely together from the time a patient enters the center. Care is coordinated so that each physician evaluates the patient in the area they specialize in, and then they decide together on which treatment is best. This means fast, efficient, and accurate treatment, which, in turn, leads to better chances for successful outcomes.
  • Our stroke team is on-site 24/7. Because strokes happen anytime and anywhere, we're available at all times to provide the treatment patients need.
    We are equipped with the most advanced technology available. Few other centers have the cutting-edge devices and procedures that help our physicians treat stroke better and faster.
  • Emory Flight provides air transport to the hospital. Because the faster a stroke victim is treated, the better, stroke victims need specialized care as soon as possible. Emory flight and its professional flight crews can save lives by getting people to the hospital sooner. This air medical transportation service can fly people in need from almost anywhere in the Southeast. The three helicopters we use are equipped with advanced life support systems. Learn more about our flight services.
  • New facilities. The stroke program at Emory University Hospital has 23 neuro ICU beds for stroke patients and five neuro step-down or intermediate care beds. It also has 41 acute care floor beds. In December of 2006, an expanded, state-of-the-art neuro ICU will open for stroke patients and other patients with intensive neurological needs.

Enhancing Outcomes

Since we launched its Neurointensive Care Unit eight years ago: 

  • 42% of patients with hemorrhagic strokes have become well enough to go home, compared with 27% before
  • 31% of patients need rehabilitation, which is an improvement from 40%
  • The death rate has decreased as well
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