An exploration of the early discharge approach for low-risk STEMI patients following primary percutaneous coronary intervention

• Published in: American journal of cardiovascular disease 2023-01, Vol.13 (2), p.32-42
• Main Authors: Broughton, Nicole, Comer, Katrina, Casey-Gillman, Oliver, Moore, Lizze, Antoniou, Sotiris, Patel, Riyaz, Fhadil, Sadeer, Wright, Paul, Ozkor, Muhiddin, Guttmann, Oliver, Baumbach, Andreas, Wragg, Andrew, Jain, Ajay J, Choudry, Fizzah, Mathur, Anthony, Rathod, Krishnaraj S, Jones, Daniel A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Review
• ISSN: 2160-200X; 2160-200X

Recently, there has been growing interest in the early discharge strategy for low-risk patients who have undergone primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) to treat ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). So far findings have suggested there are multiple advantages of shorter hospital stays, including that it could be a safe way to be more cost- and resource-efficient, reduce cases of hospital-acquired infection and boost patient satisfaction. However, there are remaining concerns surrounding safety, patient education, adequate follow-up and the generalisability of the findings from current studies which are mostly small-scale. By assessing the current research, we describe the advantages, disadvantages and challenges of early hospital discharge for STEMI and discuss the factors that determine if a patient can be considered low risk. If it is feasible to safely employ a strategy like this, the implications for healthcare systems worldwide could be extremely beneficial, particularly in lower-income economies and when we consider the detrimental impacts of the recent COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare systems.