Outcomes of Patients Undergoing Cardiac Catheterization After a Three-Day Holiday Weekend Versus a Two-Day Weekend

• Published in: The Journal of invasive cardiology Vol. 33; no. 12; pp. E939 - E948
• Main Authors: Blankenship, James C, Vanenkevort, Erin, Patel, Maulin J, Yost, Gregory W, Scott, Thomas D, Maestas, Camila M, Agarwal, Shikhar
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.12.2021
• Subjects: Cardiac Catheterization - adverse effects; Holidays; Humans; Research Design; weekends; procedure delays; complications; off-hours
• ISSN: 1557-2501

The study aim is to determine whether invasive cardiac procedures following a 3-day (holiday) weekend have worse outcomes compared with procedures following a 2-day (normal) weekend. Catheterization laboratory schedules after 3-day holiday weekends tend to be overloaded with urgent procedures for patients who have waited up to 3 days. We hypothesized that this would be reflected by more procedural complications in patients undergoing procedures after a 3-day weekend. Invasive cardiac procedures that occurred after a weekend at Geisinger Medical Center from July 2012 to December 2019 were included. Baseline characteristics, presentation, periprocedural variables, adverse events, and clinical outcomes were compared between catheterizations on the day following a 2-day weekend and catheterizations following a 3-day weekend. Independent correlates of adverse events were identified by logistic regression analysis. We identified 13,704 invasive cardiac procedures performed after a weekend, of which 722 occurred after a 3-day (holiday) weekend. Baseline demographics, presentation, and case volumes were similar between the 2 groups. Procedures after a 3-day weekend were not associated with any differences in in-hospital mortality, myocardial infarction, or stroke compared with those after a standard 2-day weekend. By univariate analysis, procedural complications were more frequent after a 3-day weekend (15.1% vs 12.3%; P=.03), but this difference was not significant on multivariate analysis (odds ratio, 1.22; P=.30). Cardiac catheterization procedures performed after a 3-day weekend were not associated with differences in in-patient mortality, myocardial infarction, stroke, or procedural complications.