Same Day Discharge Versus Overnight Stay
At the end of each procedure, patients were observed in a bed-side waiting room setting (e.g ., critical care unit or intensive care unit). The operator made the decision for SDD immediately after the procedure but patient’s discharged status could be changed during recovery. All patients were observed for acute indications of pericardial effusion or cardiac tamponade; if either complication was suspected, a chest x-ray or transthoracic echocardiogram was utilized to triage the patient. The occurrence of either event nullified the potential for SDD consideration. Each hospital utilized an individualized checklist of criteria that were mandatory before a patient was considered for SDD (Table 1), and importantly, each patient had to agree to a SDD preference with adequate arrangements for “secure-to-home” transportation. At each hospital, the nursing staff and treating physician provided detailed instructions on next-day care to all patients with a SDD. If SDD was used, the patient was discharged from the hospital within 6-hours of the procedure and before an overnight stay was recorded. Patients in the overnight cohort were discharged via normal and typical next-day standard-of-care policies, which included a review of patient status during the observational period. Similarly, each hospital used an individualized checklist of next-day discharge requirements, and these criteria are also provided for each hospital (Table 1). Each procedure was performed on uninterrupted anticoagulation and patients maintained anticoagulation therapy for a minimum of 60 days after the index ablation.