Impact of Standardizing Management of Atrial Fibrillation with Rapid Heart Rate in the Emergency Department

There is substantial variation in the emergency treatment of atrial fibrillation with tachycardia. A standardized treatment approach at an academic center decreased admissions without adverse outcomes, but this approach has not been evaluated in a community Emergency Department (ED).

To evaluate the implementation of a standardized treatment guideline for patients with atrial fibrillation and a rapid heart rate in a community ED.

An observational pre-/postimplementation (August 2013 to July 2014 and August 2014 to July 2015, respectively) study at a community ED. The standardized treatment guideline encouraged early oral treatment with rate control medication, outpatient echocardiogram, and early follow-up. A multiple logistic regression model adjusting for patient characteristics was generated to investigate the association between the intervention and ED discharge rate.

The primary measure was ED discharge. Secondary measures included stroke or death, ED return visit, hospital readmission, length of stay, and use of oral rate control medications.

A total of 199 (104 pre/95 post) ED encounters were evaluated. The ED discharge rate increased 14% after intervention (57.7% to 71.6%, p = 0.04), and use of rate control medications increased by 19.4% (p < 0.01). Adjusted multivariate results showed a nearly 2-fold likelihood of ED discharge after guideline implementation (odds ratio = 1.97, 95%confidence interval = 1.07-3.63). Length of stay, return visits, and hospital readmissionswere similar.

A standardized approach to ED patients with atrial fibrillation and tachycardia is associated with a decrease in hospital admissions without adversely affecting patient safety.