Towards evidence-based emergency medicine: best BETs from the Manchester Royal Infirmary. Use of aspirin in acute stroke.

A short-cut review was carried out to establish whether the administration of aspirin before computed tomography scanning improved outcome in patients with symptoms suggestive of stroke. In all, 866 papers were found using the reported searches, two of which presented the best evidence to answer the clinical question. The author group, date and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes, results and study weaknesses of these best papers are tabulated. If a computed tomography scan is to be carried out within 48 h of onset of symptoms, then it is prudent to await the result before starting aspirin.