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Reducing the hospital burden associated with the treatment of pulmonary embolism.
J Thromb Haemost. 2019 Mar 09;:
Authors: Peacock WF, Singer AJ
Abstract
Pulmonary embolism (PE) is the most feared clinical presentation of venous thromboembolism (VTE). Patients with PE have traditionally been treated in hospital; however, many are at low risk of adverse outcomes and current guidelines suggest outpatient treatment as an option. Outpatient treatment of PE offers several advantages, including reduced risk of hospital-acquired conditions and potential cost savings. Despite this, patients with low-risk PE are still frequently hospitalized for treatment. This narrative review summarizes current guideline recommendations for the identification of patients with low-risk PE who are potentially suitable for outpatient treatment, using prognostic assessment tools (e.g. the Pulmonary Embolism Severity Index [PESI] and simplified PESI) and clinical exclusion criteria (e.g. Hestia criteria) alone or in combination with additional cardiac assessments. Treatment options are discussed along with recommendations for the follow-up of patients managed in the non-hospital environment. The available data on outpatient treatment of PE are summarized, including details on patient selection, anticoagulant choice, and short-term outcomes in each study. Accumulating evidence suggests that outcomes in patients with low-risk PE treated as outpatients are at least as good as, if not better than, those treated in the hospital. With mounting pressures on healthcare systems worldwide, increasing the proportion of patients with PE treated as outpatients has the potential to reduce healthcare burdens associated with VTE. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
PMID: 30851227 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]