Arrhythmias & electrophysiologyCohort study
Same-day discharge after atrial fibrillation ablation under a nurse-coordinated standardized protocol
- Prospective cohort study
- consecutive patients
- single-group
Nurse same-day discharge (SDD) coordinator managed eligibility, patient flow, logistics, education, discharge and smartphone-based virtual follow-up
Authors' conclusion
Same-day discharge after AF ablation following a nurse-coordinated standardized protocol is safe and efficient.
Study context
- Population
- Patients planned for atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) ≥35%, basic support at home and hospital accessible within 60 min331 eligible
- Participants
- 420 patients
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Successful same-day discharge
Eligible patients successfully discharged the same day
300 (91%)
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Reasons for exclusion from SDD
- Living remotely
- 29, 6.9%
- Lack of support at home
- 19, 4.5%
- LVEF <35%
- 17, 4.0%
Workflow
- Standardized SDD coordination resulted in efficient workflows and reduced the total workload of the medical staff
Safety
Post-SDD complications
- Major post-SDD complications
- 0
- Unplanned medical attention
- 19, 6.3%
- 30-day readmission
- 5, 1.6%
- driven by femoral access-site complications
Femoral access-site complications after introduction of compulsory ultrasound-guided puncture (after initial 150 SDD patients)
- Significantly reduced
- P = 0.0145
Original publication
Same-day discharge after atrial fibrillation ablation under a nurse-coordinated standardized protocol. Europace. Published 4 April 2024. doi:10.1093/europace/euae083
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it