Influence of implementation of a chest pain unit on acute coronary syndrome outcomes.

Background: Different strategies have been described to increase promptness and efficiency in the assessment and management of patients with acute chest pain and acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in the emergency department (ED).

Objective: The objective of this study is to evaluate the results of implementing a Chest Pain Unit (CPU) to assist patients with ACS, and to determine its impact on quality of health care indexes and clinical outcomes.

Methods: A study was conducted with a prospective cohort of patients admitted to the ED with a chief complaint of acute chest pain or suspected ACS at two different time periods: before (n = 663) and after (n = 450) introducing a CPU as part of the ED. Quality-of-care indexes analyzed in this study were adherence to a critical pathway, length of hospital stay, and hospital mortality.

Results: There was increased adherence to a critical pathway during the CPU period compared to the period with no designated CPU area, including compliance with prescribing aspirin, beta-blockers, and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor, and performing coronary angiography in high-risk patients. After adjustment to baseline characteristics, admissions to a CPU resulted in a 65% reduction in mortality (odds ratio 0.35; 95% confidence interval 0.14-0.88; p = 0.03). There was no difference in median length of hospital stay, 7 days (interquartile range [IQR] 4-12) before CPU and 6 days (IQR 4-11) after introducing the CPU (p = 0.10).

Conclusion: In the scenario of a crowded ED, implementation of a CPU was associated with greater adherence to a critical pathway for patients with ACS, with a concomitant reduction in mortality rates.