Early discharge of patients with pulmonary embolism: a two-phase observational study

Table 1—

Phase 1: reasons given for nonsuitability for early discharge^#

Reason	Patients n (% reasons)
Patient required admission for additional monitoring, administration of any form of oxygen therapy for hypoxaemia or for another medical reason (e.g. significant respiratory and/or cardiovascular disease and/or treatment for active malignancy)	70 (43.2)
Likelihood of poor compliance or difficulty ensuring appropriate follow-up, including complex elderly patients, the infirm, and those with significant immobility, geographical inaccessibility or a history of noncompliance, and intravenous drug abusers	47 (29.0)
History of previous PE or further PE while currently on treatment	12 (7.4)
Co-existing major DVT (high-segment femoral and above)	8 (4.9)
Other (e.g. bleeding disorders or active bleeding and pregnancy)	25 (15.4)

Table 2—

Phase 1: outcome data^#

	Suspected PE patients
	Total	Suitable for early discharge	Unsuitable for early discharge
End of acute LMWH treatment
Subjects n	225	98	127
Thromboembolic event	0 (0; 0.0–1.6)	0 (0; 0.0–3.7)	0 (0; 0.0–2.9)
Bleeding complications
Minor bleed	1 (0.4; 0.0–2.5)	0 (0; 0.0–3.7)	1 (0.8; 0.0–4.3)
Major bleed	0 (0; 0.0–1.6)	0 (0; 0.0–3.7)	0 (0; 0.0–2.9)
Deaths	0 (0; 0.0–1.6)	0 (0; 0.0–3.7)	0 (0; 0.0–2.9)
3 months after start of PE treatment
Subjects n	202	85	117
Thromboembolic event	6 (3.0; 1.1–6.4)	2 (2.4; 0.3–8.2)	4 (3.4; 0.9–8.5)
Bleeding complications
Minor bleed	4 (2.0; 0.5–5.0)	3 (3.5; 0.7–10.0)	1 (0.9; 0.0–4.7)
Major bleed	6 (3.0; 1.1–6.4)	3 (3.5; 0.7–10.0)	3 (2.6; 0.5–7.3)
Deaths	9 (4.5; 2.1–8.3)	3 (3.5; 0.7–10.0)	6 (5.1; 1.9–10.8)

Data are presented as n (%; 95% confidence interval), unless otherwise stated. PE: pulmonary embolism; LMWH: low molecular weight heparin.^#: n = 225, 3-month follow-up data available for 202.

Table 3—

Phase 2: outcome data in confirmed pulmonary embolism (PE) patients treated as outpatients

End of acute LMWH treatment
Subjects n	157
Thromboembolic event	0 (0; 0.0–2.3)
Bleeding complications
Minor bleed	0 (0; 0.0–2.3)
Major bleed	0 (0; 0.0–2.3)
Deaths	0 (0; 0.0–2.3)
Readmission to hospital
Related	0 (0)
Unrelated	3 (1.9)
3 months after start of PE treatment
Subjects n	156
Thromboembolic event	0 (0; 0.0–2.3)
Bleeding complications
Minor bleed	1 (0.6; 0.0–3.5)
Major bleed	0 (0; 0.0–2.3)
Deaths	3 (1.9; 0.4–5.5)

Data are presented as n (%; 95% confidence interval) or n (%), unless otherwise stated. LMWH: low molecular weight heparin.

Table 4—

Phase 2: patient satisfaction score and preference^# at the end of the acute^¶ treatment phase

Data are presented as n (%), unless otherwise stated. CI: confidence interval. ^#: 33 patients did not complete the patient satisfaction score and eight did not indicate treatment preference. ^¶: low molecular weight heparin.