Abstract
Background: Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) stands as the most employed coronary revascularization technique today. By the year 2020, more than 965,000 PCI procedures were performed in the United States. However, the growing demand for this procedure poses several challenges. It leads to a substantial occupancy of hospital beds, extended waiting times, increased procedural costs, and a heightened demand for healthcare personnel, all of which contribute to a reduction in the quality of care for patients with medical emergencies. Therefore, this research aims to assess the short-term safety of ambulatory percutaneous coronary intervention in carefully selected patients.
Aims: The primary objective of this study is to determine the short-term safety of implementing ambulatory percutaneous coronary intervention in a middle-income country.
Methods: This retrospective, single-center study was conducted in Santiago, Dominican Republic. The study population consisted of patients who underwent percutaneous coronary angioplasties between January and December 2022. Seventy patients who met the predefined inclusion criteria were included in the final sample. These patients were discharged within 24 hours of the procedure and subsequently contacted at 24-48 hours and 7-14 days post-procedure by the healthcare staff to monitor for any signs or symptoms of complications stemming from the intervention.
Results: The study identified a few complications, with no abnormalities reported in 98.6% of patients. Hematoma emerged as the most observed alteration, and no major adverse cardiac events (MACE) were recorded. From the patient's perspective, individuals expressed satisfaction with the same-day discharge throughout the follow-up period, which extended to 7-14 days post-procedure.
Conclusion: Ambulatory percutaneous coronary angioplasty was found to be a safe procedure, particularly in patients meeting specific low-case complexity criteria.
Keywords: percutaneous coronary intervention, ambulatory procedure, safety, Dominican Republic, ambulatory percutaneous coronary.