What Factors Contribute to Post Atrial Flutter Ablation Hospital Readmission?

HealthDay News — Recognition of factors associated with early readmission for patients after atrial flutter (AFL) ablation is necessary for reducing costs and improving quality of life, according to a study published online in the Journal of Cardiovascular Electrophysiology.

Byomesh Tripathi, MD, from Mount Sinai St Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital in New York City, and colleagues examined factors associated with early readmissions following AFL ablation. The National Readmission Database 2013 to 2014 was used to derive the study cohort.

The researchers found that the readmission rate was 18.19% among 5552 patients (1010 patients with 1396 readmissions). Heart failure, atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter, respiratory complications, infections, bleeding, and stroke/transient ischemic attack were common etiologies for readmission (12.23%, 11.13%, 8.93%, 9.42%, 7.4%, 7.39%, and 1.89%, respectively). 

Preexisting heart failure, chronic pulmonary disease, anemia, malignancy, weekend admission (vs weekday admission), and length of stay of at least 5 days were significant multivariate predictors of 90-day readmission (hazard ratios, 1.30, 1.37, 1.23, 1.87, 1.23, and 1.39, respectively). Half of the readmissions occurred within 30 days of discharge.

“Identifying high-risk patients, careful discharge planning, and close follow-up post-discharge can potentially reduce readmission rates in AFL ablation patients,” the authors write.

Reference

Tripathi B, Arora S, Mishra A, et al. Short-term outcomes of atrial flutter ablation [published online August 11, 2017]. J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol. doi: 10.1111/jce.13311.