Change in Admission Rates Among Patients Presenting to Emergency Departments with VTE and Low Risk of Complications: A Retrospective Cohort Study from 11 Community Hospitals

Background: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is often diagnosed in the emergency department (ED), but adherence to clinical guidelines in the management of VTE in the ED may be low. The 2016 update of the American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST) guidelines has recommended home management or early discharge instead of in-hospital treatment for patients with low risk VTE. Gaps in clinical practice and clinical guideline recommendations need to be identified to improve VTE management in the ED.

Objectives: To investigate changes in management of patients with low-risk VTE who received a diagnosis in the ED before and after the February 2016 update of CHEST guidelines on antithrombotic therapy for VTE.

Methods: This retrospective analysis examined patient electronic medical records from January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2018 from a large healthcare system in Illinois. Data were collected on patients presenting in 11 EDs in community hospitals who were given a primary diagnosis or discharge diagnosis of VTE based on International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision or Tenth Revision. VTE was categorized as low-risk if diagnosis was either lower-extremity DVT or PE and a pulmonary embolism score index (PESI) lower than 85. A multivariable logistic regression model was constructed to measure the adjusted odds of hospital admissions among patients with low-risk VTE before and after the update of the CHEST guidelines. The model was adjusted for patient demographics and clinical characteristics, type of anticoagulant administered, preexisting comorbidities, and hospital characteristics.

Results: Among 2,193,965 ED visits over the 6-year period, 15,543 visits representing 14,530 patients who received diagnoses of DVT (55%) or PE (45%) were included in the analysis. The mean age was 65.0 ± 17.4 years, with 46% being male and 63% Caucasian. A total of 83% of patients with DVT were considered low risk based on DVT location and 49% of patients with PE were low risk based on PESI. The rates of hospital admission for management of low-risk VTE declined from 81% in 2013 to 73% in 2018. In the adjusted model, patients visiting EDs between 2016 and 2018 (post-update of guidelines) were equally likely to be admitted compared with patients visiting EDs between 2013 and 2015 (pre-update of guidelines; odds ratio [OR]=0.91; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.81, 1.02). Patients who received a diagnosis of PE compared with DVT (OR=4.90; 95% CI: 4.26, 5.64) and patients who received vitamin K antagonists compared with direct oral anticoagulants (OR=1.74; 95% CI: 1.54, 1.96) had higher odds of hospital admission. However, the presence of a pharmacist was associated with lower odds of hospital admission (OR=0.68; 95% CI: 0.55, 0.85).

Conclusions: Our study results indicate that most patients receiving a diagnosis of low-risk VTE in EDs were admitted for in-hospital management despite clinical guidelines recommending otherwise. The 2016 update of CHEST guidelines recommending outpatient management had minimal effects on decreasing the rate of admissions of patients with low-risk VTE. More effort in real-world practices is needed to adopt guideline recommendations and integrate clinical evidence on new and existing treatment advances.