Low-Risk Pulmonary Embolism: An Opportunity to Prevent Hospitalizations

More than a decade after randomized trials demonstrated the safety of early discharge after low-risk pulmonary embolism (PE; NEJM JW Gen Med Aug 15 2011 and Lancet 2011; 378:41), many low-risk patients still are hospitalized for PE. To assess patterns of emergency department (ED) discharge or hospital admission of patients with acute PE in the U.S., investigators conducted serial cross-sectional analyses of data from >1.6 million ED visits (2012–2020).

Among patients with acute PE, 43% had dyspnea, 25% had chest pain, 33% had tachycardia, 34% had tachypnea, and only 6.5% had oxygen desaturation. ED discharge rates remained relatively constant (about one third of patients) during the 9-year period. Similarly, among the half or more of patient…