Emergency Department Discharge with Urgent Outpatient Cardiac Stress Testing

This study adds to the evidence that cardiac stress testing for low-risk patients has, at best, low yield.

Cardiac stress testing in emergency department (ED) patients with chest pain and no evidence of acute myocardial infarction is associated with higher rates of other tests and procedures, without reductions in death or myocardial infarction (NEJM JW Emerg Med Feb 2015 and JAMA Intern Med 2015; 175:428), yet guidelines still recommend stress tests within 72 hours after myocardial infarction has been ruled out (NEJM JW Emerg Med Dec 2014 and J Am Coll Cardiol 2014; 24:e139).

Researchers at a highly integrated healthcare system performed a retrospective study to determine the completion rate of outpatient stress tests ordered from 13 EDs and any association between test completion within 72 hours and patient outcomes.

Of 24,459 ED patients with c…

Reviewing Author

Benton R. Hunter, MD

Disclosures

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesSociety for Academic Emergency Medicine (Chair, Evidence Based Healthcare Interest Group)

Benton R. Hunter, MD

Disclosures

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesSociety for Academic Emergency Medicine (Chair, Evidence Based Healthcare Interest Group)

Emergency Department Discharge with Urgent Outpatient Cardiac Stress Testing

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Reviewing Author