Radial artery access, same-day discharge reduce PCI costs

Editor's Note

In this study, hospitals reduced costs associated with percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs) when cardiologists performed the procedures through the radial artery and discharged patients on the same day.

The analysis of 280,000 Medicare patients found that an average cost of $13,389 for the radial artery approach with same-day discharge, compared with $17,076 for the femoral artery approach with at least 1 night of hospitalization, resulted in a cost savings of about $3,700.

The researchers estimated that using the radial artery instead of the femoral artery and same day discharge could save $300 million per year in the US.

Figure][1] Objectives The aim of this study was to examine the independent impact of various care pathways, including those involving transradial intervention (TRI) and same-day discharge (SDD) after elective percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), on hospital costs. Background PCI is associated with costs of $10 billion annually.