• Melanie Roussel, Ben Bloom, Mehdi Taalba, Christophe Choquet, Delphine Douillet, Florent Fémy, Alexis Marouk, Judith Gorlicki, Camille Gerlier, Richard Macrez, Emilien Arnaud, Rudy Bompard, Emmanuel Montassier, Olivier Hugli, Charlotte Czopik, Xavier Eyer, Axel Benhamed, Olivier Peyrony, Tahar Chouihed, Andrea Penaloza, Alessio Marra, Said Laribi, Paul-Georges Reuter, Wilhelm Behringer, Marion Douplat, Jeremy Guenezan, Nicolas Javaud, Olivier Lucidarme, Marine Cachanado, Ainhoa Aparicio-Monforte, Yonathan Freund, and Improving Emergency Care (IMPEC) FHU Collaborator Group.
• Sorbonne Université, UMR Inserm 1166, IHU ICAN, Paris; Emergency Department, Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Paris, France (M.R., Y.F.).
• Ann. Intern. Med. 2023 Jun 1; 176 (6): 761768761-768.

BackgroundRecently, validated clinical decision rules have been developed that avoid unnecessary use of computed tomographic pulmonary angiography (CTPA) in patients with suspected pulmonary embolism (PE) in the emergency department (ED).ObjectiveTo measure any resulting change in CTPA use for suspected PE.DesignRetrospective analysis.Setting26 European EDs in 6 countries.PatientsPatients with CTPA performed for suspected PE in the ED during the first 7 days of each odd month between January 2015 and December 2019.MeasurementsThe primary end points were the CTPAs done for suspected PE in the ED and the number of PEs diagnosed in the ED each year adjusted to an annual census of 100 000 ED visits. Temporal trends were estimated using generalized linear mixed regression models.Results8970 CTPAs were included (median age, 63 years; 56% female). Statistically significant temporal trends for more frequent use of CTPA (836 per 100 000 ED visits in 2015 vs. 1112 in 2019; P < 0.001), more diagnosed PEs (138 per 100 000 in 2015 vs. 164 in 2019; P = 0.028), a higher proportion of low-risk PEs (annual percent change [APC], 13.8% [95% CI, 2.6% to 30.1%]) with more ambulatory management (APC, 19.3% [CI, 4.1% to 45.1%]), and a lower proportion of intensive care unit admissions (APC, -8.9% [CI, -17.1% to -0.3%]) were observed.LimitationData were limited to 7 days every 2 months.ConclusionDespite the recent validation of clinical decision rules to limit the use of CTPA, an increase in the CTPA rate along with more diagnosed PEs and especially low-risk PEs were instead observed.Primary Funding SourceNone specific for this study.

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