The hospitals of Lleida refer to Barcelona around double the severe strokes that they can treat in their own demarcation. The situation is reflected in the parliamentary response of the Counselor of Health, Olga Pané, on the activity of mechanical thrombectomies at the Arnau de Vilanova Hospital, the only Leridan center equipped for this procedure.
In 2025, 25 thrombectomies have been performed in Lleida compared to 53 referrals to Vall d'Hebron hospital in Barcelona. Of those 53 transferred patients, 43 came from Arnau de Vilanova. The rest arrived from La Seu, Tremp and Val d'Aran.
A service limited to five hours a day
The Arnau de Vilanova performs mechanical thrombectomies only from 9:00 to 14:00 hours and from Monday to Friday. Outside that range, cases that require this treatment are transferred to Barcelona. That limitation explains a good part of the volume of transfers in a pathology in which the response time is decisive.
The series of recent years maintains that same trend. In 2024, 20 thrombectomies were performed in Lleida and 31 cases were referred to Barcelona. In 2023, there were 22 interventions in Lleida and 35 transfers. In 2022, 22 thrombectomies and 45 referrals were recorded. In 2021, 11 procedures in the demarcation and 29 patients sent to the Catalan capital.
The difference of times between being treated in Lleida or in Barcelona
The 2023 data shows a clear gap in care times. The average time from symptom onset to thrombectomy was 135 minutes in patients treated in Lleida. In contrast, among patients transferred to Vall d'Hebron, that average time rose to 352 minutes.
Despite that difference, the clinical results collected by Health show similar figures. With data from 2023, mortality was 18.18% in Lleida and 20% in Barcelona. The recovery of functional independence reached 31.82% among patients treated in Lleida and 31.43% among those referred to Barcelona.
Health studies changes in the care circuit
"Work will be done with the professionals from Arnau and other centers in Lleida to introduce improvements in the stroke care circuit, and the possibility of increasing the service's hours will be evaluated" - Olga Pané, Minister of Health
The expansion of the Arnau de Vilanova thrombectomy service to 24 hours also appears as a commitment of the Government for the 2026 budgets. The measure seeks to reduce dependence on transfers to Barcelona in cases of severe stroke and bring continuous care closer to the entire Lleida demarcation.
While that expansion does not materialize, Arnau de Vilanova will remain the only hospital in Lleida with the capacity to perform mechanical thrombectomies, although with a very restricted schedule that forces referrals to Vall d'Hebron to be maintained as a central part of the care circuit.