Outcomes of Patients Undergoing Cardiac Catheterization After a Three-Day Holiday Weekend Versus a Two-Day Weekend

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Catheterization laboratory schedules can become overloaded after 3-day holiday weekends due to accumulated urgent procedures.
• This overload may potentially lead to increased procedural complications for patients undergoing invasive cardiac procedures.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if invasive cardiac procedures performed after a 3-day holiday weekend are associated with worse patient outcomes compared to those after a standard 2-day weekend.
• To determine if procedural complications differ based on the length of the preceding weekend.

Main Methods:

• A retrospective analysis of 13,704 invasive cardiac procedures performed at Geisinger Medical Center between July 2012 and December 2019.
• Comparison of baseline characteristics, procedural variables, adverse events, and clinical outcomes between procedures following 2-day and 3-day weekends.
• Logistic regression analysis to identify independent correlates of adverse events.

Main Results:

• Procedures after 3-day weekends showed no significant differences in in-hospital mortality, myocardial infarction, or stroke compared to those after 2-day weekends.
• While univariate analysis suggested more frequent procedural complications after 3-day weekends (15.1% vs. 12.3%), this was not statistically significant on multivariate analysis (OR, 1.22; P=.30).
• Baseline demographics, presentation, and case volumes were similar between the two groups.

Conclusions:

• Invasive cardiac procedures, including cardiac catheterization, performed after a 3-day weekend are not associated with increased in-patient mortality, myocardial infarction, or stroke.
• The study found no significant difference in procedural complications after longer holiday weekends compared to standard weekends.