• CJEM · Nov 2022

    Effect of specialist consultation on emergency department revisits among patients with uncomplicated recent-onset atrial fibrillation or flutter.

    • Daniel J Lane, Frank X Scheuermeyer, Marie-Joe Nemnom, Monica Taljaard, and Ian Stiell.
    • Department of Emergency Medicine, St Paul's Hospital, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada. djlane@ucalgary.ca.
    • CJEM. 2022 Nov 1; 24 (7): 760769760-769.

    ObjectivesTo examine the association between specialist consultation and risk of 30-day ED revisit in emergency department (ED) patients with recent-onset uncomplicated atrial fibrillation or flutter (AF/AFL).MethodsAs a secondary analysis of a previously published trial, clinical experts identified predictors of consultation including age and sex, ED sinus conversion, thromboembolic risk, heart rate, rate control medication use, coronary artery disease and anti-platelet use, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. These were included in a propensity-matched hierarchical Bayesian model accounting for hospital site as a random effect, with 30-day ED revisit as the primary outcome. We also measured ED length of stay for consulted and non-consulted patients.ResultsWe analyzed data from 11 sites for 829 ED patients with AF/AFL, of whom 364 (44%) had specialist consultation. A total of 128 patients (15.4%) had an ED revisit, 78 (16.8%) from the no consult group and 50 (13.7%) from the consult group. Consultation rates ranged from 8.8 to 71% between sites. Median length of stay was 591 min (interquartile range [IQR] 359-1024) for consulted patients and 300 min (IQR 212-409) for patients without consultation. After propensity-matching, consulted patients had a 0.6% (IQR - 4 to 3%) lower risk of 30-day revisits than non-consulted patients (probability of lower risk 55%).ConclusionsIn ED patients with uncomplicated AF/AFL, there was substantial between-site variation in specialist consultations; such consultation was unlikely to influence revisits within 30 days while ED length of stay was nearly double. ED specialist consultations may not be necessary for uncomplicated patients.© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians (CAEP)/ Association Canadienne de Médecine d'Urgence (ACMU).

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