Despite international growth in the use of same day percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), its widespread use remains limited. This study sought to determine the prevalence, clinical outcomes and cost implications of same day discharge (SDD) amongst Australian patients undergoing elective PCI.

This is a retrospective, observational cohort study of patients who underwent elective PCI in Victoria between January 2014 and December 2017. Data from this study was obtained from the Victorian Cardiac Outcomes Registry (VCOR). The primary outcome measured was the incidence of 30-day major adverse cardiac events (MACE) and secondary outcomes included in hospital complications and 30-day readmissions, between SDD patients and those observed as inpatients overnight (ON). Propensity score matching for key clinical factors were used to compare both groups.

We studied 18,101 patients, with a mean age of 68±11years and 13,935 (77%) were male. The rate of SDD was 586 (3.2%) and 17,515 (96.8%) patients stayed in hospital overnight. Radial access was performed in 393 (67.1%) and 7,967 (45.5%) among SDD and ON patients respectively (p<0.001). At 30 days, unplanned cardiac re-hospitalisation occurred in 9.6% (n=56) amongst SDD and 11.6%, (n=2,033) amongst ON patients (p=0.173). Propensity matching highlighted SDD to be non-inferior to overnight, with no significant difference in 30-day MACE (0.5%, 95% CI: 0.34, 1.35) but SDD was associated with reduced average length of stay by 2.06 days (95% CI: 1.94, 2.19). We observed substantial hospital variation for SDD from 0% to 16.6% of elective PCI procedures.

Same day discharge after elective PCI is performed infrequently in Victoria. Despite this, SDD appears to be safe and feasible. Given significant benefits in cost and bed utilisation, a more consistent use of SDD could markedly improve the value of PCI care in Australia.