Q Are there evidence-based guidelines or best practices related to same-day discharge of a patient who had a percutaneous coronary intervention?

A Cynthia Webner, DNP, CCNS, ACNPC-AG, CCRN-CMC, CHFN, replies:

Since Dr Andreas Grüntzig and his colleagues in 1979 published the result of their experience with the first 50 patients to undergo percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty in Zurich, Switzerland, technology has advanced. The incidence of percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs) outdistances the number of patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting by 3 to 1.2,3  The volume of inpatient PCI procedures reaches nearly 1 million annually in the United States and the number of hospitals in the United States providing PCI continues to increase.3,4  Advancements in technology, operator skill, increased procedural success, and improved safety, including low postprocedural complication rates, contribute to more patients being considered for same-day discharge after an uncomplicated elective PCI....

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