title: Outpatient coronary angioplasty: feasible and safe.
abstract: This study tested the safety and feasibility of coronary angioplasty on an outpatient basis. The purpose of this approach includes cost-effectiveness and patient comfort. Six hundred forty-four patients were randomized to either transradial or transfemoral PTCA using 6 Fr equipment. Patients were triaged to outpatient management based on a predefined set of predictors of an adverse outcome in the first 24 hr after initially successful coronary angioplasty. Three hundred seventy-five patients (58%) were discharged 4-6 hr after PTCA; 42% stayed in hospital overnight. In the outpatient group, one adverse event occurred (subacute stent thrombosis 7 hr postdischarge, nonfatal myocardial infarction). There were no major vascular complications. In the hospital group, 19 patients (7%) sustained an adverse cardiac even in the first 24 hr; 1 patient died. Patients treated via the femoral route had more (minor) bleeding complications (19 patients; 6%); in 17 of these, this was the sole reason that discharge was delayed. PTCA on an outpatient basis, performed via the radial or the femoral artery with low-profile equipment, is safe and feasible in a considerable part of a routine PTCA population. A larger proportion of transradial patients can be discharged due to a reduction in (minor) bleeding complications.
authors.affiliation: Amsterdam Department of Interventional Cardiology, Onze Lieve Vrouwe Gasthuis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. t.slagboom@olvg.nl
authors.forename: Ton
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Slagboom
authors.forename: Ferdinand
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kiemeneij
authors.forename: Gert Jan
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Laarman
authors.forename: Ron
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: van der Wieken
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000553:Ambulatory Care; D000789:Angina, Unstable / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D015906:Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods*; D006328:Cardiac Catheterization / Q000379:methods; D002408:Catheters, Indwelling; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D023921:Coronary Stenosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000628:therapy*; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D005260:Female; D005263:Femoral Artery; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011336:Probability; D017534:Radial Artery; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012449:Safety; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome