• James Gilbertson, Retha Moghrabi, Scott W Kirkland, Kaitlyn Tate, William Sevcik, Ni T Lam, Cristina Villa-Roel, and Brian H Rowe.
• Department of Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
• J Emerg Med. 2019 Oct 1; 57 (4): 501-516.

BackgroundPatients presenting to emergency departments (EDs) with acute atrial fibrillation or flutter undergo numerous transitions in care (TiC), including changes in their provider, level of care, and location. During transitions, gaps in communications and care may lead to poor outcomes.ObjectiveWe sought to examine the effectiveness of ED-based interventions to improve length of stay, return to normal sinus rhythm, and hospitalization, among other critical patient TiC outcomes.MethodsComprehensive searches of electronic databases and the gray literature were conducted. Two independent reviewers completed study selection, quality, and data extraction. Relative risks (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using a random-effects model, where appropriate.ResultsFrom 823 citations, 11 studies were included. Interventions consisted of within-ED clinical pathways (n = 6) and specialized observation units (n = 2) and post-ED structured patient education and referrals (n = 3). Three of five studies assessing hospital length of stay reported a significant decrease associated with TiC interventions. Patients undergoing within-ED interventions were also more likely to receive electrical cardioversion. Two of 3 clinical pathways reporting hospitalization proportions showed significant decreases associated with TiC interventions (RR = 0.63 [95% CI 0.42-0.92] and RR = 0.20 [95% CI 0.12-0.32]), as did 1 observation unit (RR = 0.54 [95% CI 0.36-0.80]). No significant differences in mortality, complications, or relapse were found between groupings among the studies.ConclusionsThere is low to moderate quality evidence suggesting that within-ED TiC interventions may reduce hospital length of stay and decrease hospitalizations. Additional high-quality comparative effectiveness studies, however, are warranted.Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

19 keywords...

hide…