Safety of Same Day Discharge after Atrial Fibrillation Ablation

It is routine practice to observe patients (pts) overnight in the hospital after atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation. We report single center experience comparing the rate of complications prior to and after implementing a strategy of same day discharge (SDD) following AF ablation.

To assess the safety of SDD after AF ablation.

We reviewed the charts of consecutive pts who underwent AF ablation between Jan 2005 to Dec 2015. Patients who were electively admitted to undergo AF ablation or left atrial flutter ablation (AFL) were included. Patients undergoing only right atrial flutter ablation and in-patients were excluded. In Sept 2012 SDD strategy was implemented. Complication rates were collected up to 3 months post ablation. Major complications were defined as death, pericardial tamponade, CVA, hematoma requiring intervention, pulmonary vein stenosis, diaphragmatic paralysis or atrioesophageal fistula formation. Minor complications were defined as hematoma not requiring intervention and procedure related readmissions. Comparisons were made using an intention to treat analysis.

Group A (between Jan 2005 to Feb 2010) included 145 patients (87 males; 60.2 yrs mean age; 103 paroxysmal AF) who were observed overnight. Group B (between Mar 2010 to Dec 2015) included 426 patients (298 males; 62.3 yrs mean age; 247 paroxysmal AF) undergoing ablation following implementation of the SDD strategy. Patients in Group B were contacted by phone next day. In Group B, 51/426 (12%) pts were not discharged same day due to non-ablation related medical care (15/50 pts), ablation related complications (17/50 pts), pt preference (14/50 pts) and late cases (5/50 pts). Rate of total complications was more frequent in Group A (Group A 11.7% vs Group B 4.4%; p 0.026). Major complications happened in 2 pts in Group A and 6 pts in Group B. None of the major complications in Group B happened within 24 hrs of discharge. Only one pt in Group B had pericardial effusion drained 10 days post procedure. Most common minor complication in Group A was hematoma not requiring intervention and Group B was procedure related readmissions.

Our data suggest that SDD after AF or AFL ablation can be safely implemented in majority of pts with similar outcomes as pts observed overnight.