The impacts of prolonged emergency department length of stay on clinical outcomes of patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction after reperfusion

Emergency department and hospital crowding have become an increasing problem. The clinical outcomes of prolonged emergency department (ED) length of stay in acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients after reperfusion are still unknown. Between January 2008 and December 2011, 432 consecutive patients with STEMI undergoing primary PCI were recruited. Patients were divided into two groups: the immediate admission group (length of ED stay < 8 h; IA group) and the prolonged ED stay group (length of ED stay a parts per thousand 8 h; PS group). The median lengths of ED stay of the patients in both groups were 29.97 h in the PS group (n = 145, 33.6 %) and 1.78 h in the IA group (n = 287, 66.4 %), respectively. The age, gender, risk factors of coronary artery disease, characteristic of coronary angiography, and TIMI risk score did not differ between the two groups. During nearly 4-year clinical follow-up, the short-term and long-term clinical outcomes were similar between the two groups. B-blocker and statins were used infrequently in the ED. In addition, patients with high TIMI risk score in the PS group had higher incidence of 1-year re-MI (6.8 vs. 1.8 %; p = 0.045). In the era of primary PCI for STEMI patients after reperfusion, prolonged ED length of stay may not influence clinical outcomes. Patients with high TIMI risk score in the PS group still had a trend toward worse clinical outcome after long ED stays.