Is short-stay coronary angioplasty safe?

Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) is usually performed as an inpatient procedure and the patients are monitored for several days afterward. Over a 13-month period, in 91 of 373 PTCA procedures, the clinical condition of the patient did not necessitate inpatient status before PTCA. PTCA was done the day of admission and discharge planned the following. Overall hospital stay was planned as less than 24 hours. PTCA was done in one vessel in 62 patients, two vessels in 24, three vessels in 3, and four vessels in 2 patients. PTCA was initially successful (less than 50% residual stenosis) in 85 patients (93%). In one of these, acute occlusion occurred the next morning and urgent bypass surgery was done. PTCA failed in 6 patients who left the catheterization laboratory with unchanged coronary anatomy. Bypass surgery was performed that day in 2 patients, on another admission in 1 patient, and medical therapy continued in the other 3 patients. Of the 88 patients not receiving same admission bypass surgery, 84 (95%) were discharged in less than 24 h. Hospitalization was prolonged (1-5 days) in 4 patients. This was because of nonobstructive dissection treated with heparin for approximately 24 h in 2 patients; a catheterization site hematoma in 1 patient, and post-PTCA noncardiac chest pain in another. No patient had inhospital myocardial infarction or death. The only late complication was in a patient treated with heparin and monitored for 2 days; 3 weeks later angina returned and he died suddenly. These data suggest PTCA can safely be done in selected patients with both single and multivessel disease in a short stay inhospital setting.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)