• Irene Cabello, Javier Jacob, María Arranz, Oriol Yuguero, Jorge Guzman, Anna Moreno-Pena, Paloma Frances, Julia Santos, Anna Esquerrà, Josep-María Mòdol, and URGFAICS Research Group.
• Emergency Department, Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat.
• Eur J Emerg Med. 2020 Dec 1; 27 (6): 429-435.

ObjectiveAmiodarone is a widely used drug in the emergency department (ED) for control of atrial fibrillation, but it has a delayed onset of action and slow metabolism, leading to longer length of ED stay. The aim of this study was to compare the length of ED stay of atrial fibrillation patients who were treated with or without amiodarone.MethodsWe undertook a multicenter, observational, cohort study of the URGFAICS registry of older adults with atrial fibrillation who presented to five Spanish EDs and compared patients who had received amiodarone with those who had not. Afterward, we performed a propensity score matched analysis of atrial fibrillation to determine the ED length of stay related to amiodarone.ResultsOf the 1199 patients included in the registry, 225 patients (18.8%) were treated with amiodarone while 974 (81.2%) were not. We performed a univariate study depending on amiodarone administration followed by propensity score calculation according to the 14 statistically different features found previously and six significant variables, obtaining 150 patients (75 for each group) suitable for the analysis. The length of ED stay was analyzed using box plot, with a P <0.001 in the crude analysis and P = 0.012 after propensity score matching and using survival curves for the analysis of prolonged ED stay, with a log rank <0.001 in the crude analysis and log rank 0.021 after the propensity score-matched analysis.ConclusionAmiodarone is associated with longer length of ED stay until discharge independently of the baseline characteristics of the patients.

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