Intermediate
Technical
In the Industry Vocabulary Test
door-to-balloon time
Quality metric measuring time from hospital arrival to balloon inflation during primary PCI for STEMI.
Full Definition
Door-to-balloon time is a critical quality indicator in STEMI care that measures the interval between a patient's arrival at the hospital ('door') and the inflation of the angioplasty balloon in the culprit vessel ('balloon'). Current guidelines recommend achieving door-to-balloon times of 90 minutes or less for optimal outcomes. This metric encompasses emergency department triage, ECG interpretation, catheterisation laboratory activation, patient preparation, and the actual intervention procedure.
Usage
Usage note: Always hyphenate. Measured in minutes. Sometimes abbreviated as D2B in informal contexts.
In Context
- "The hospital achieved a door-to-balloon time of 67 minutes, meeting guideline recommendations." — Quality improvement report
- "Delays in door-to-balloon time were attributed to difficulty obtaining vascular access." — Morbidity and mortality conference presentation
Also known as
D2B time
door-to-device time
Don't confuse with
door-to-needle time
symptom-to-balloon time