Can AF patients be discharged early?
Yes, concludes researchers, and with less cost
A group of investigators wanted to see if it were feasible to discharge patients who were having post-op atrial fibrillation (AF) as long as ventricular rate had been controlled and anticoagulation initiated.1 They ran a cost analysis of about 500 patients who had undergone cardiovascular surgery, 16% of whom experienced fibrillation. Of those, 67 were discharged in sinus rhythm and the remaining 12 were discharged in AF. Those 12 patients had no repeat hospitalizations, bleeding complications, or thromboembolic events.
Reference
1. Solomon AJ, Kouretas PC, Hopkins RA, et al. Early discharge of patients with new-onset atrial fibrillation after cardiovascular surgery. Am Heart J 1998;135:557-563.
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