Predictors of Increased Length of Stay of Patients Undergoing Catheter Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation.

Background: To evaluate predictors ofincreased length-of-stay (LOS) following catheter ablation (CA) of atrial fibrillation (AF)in order to extrapolate high-risk populations for same-day-discharge (SDD). Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of 200 patients undergoing AF CA from July 2017-June 2018 at a tertiary academic medical center. Results: Among 200 patients, 11.5% (n = 23) had LOS > 1 day (Group A) while 88.5% had an overnight stay (n = 177, Group B). Group A patients had more persistent AF (50.0% vs. 25.1%, p = 0.017), diabetes mellitus (52.2% vs. 16.4%, p < 0.001), loop diuretic use (60.9% vs. 23.7%, p < 0.001), and warfarin use (26.1% vs. 10.7%, p = 0.037), as well as higher mean CHA2DS2VASc scores (3.91± 1.35vs. 2.65 ± 1.54, p < 0.001) and longer mean procedure times (341 minutes vs. 270 minutes, p = 0.005) requiring more intraprocedural furosemide(51.4 mg vs. 27.6 mg, p = 0.031).30 day heart failure hospitalizations (17.4% vs. 1.13%, p < 0.001), access site complications, (13.0% vs. 1.70%, p < 0.003) and recurrent atrial arrhythmias both pre- and post-discharge (pre: 17.4% vs. 0%, p < 0.001; post: 47.8% vs. 19.8%, p < 0.001) were also more prevalent in Group A. Multivariate modeling demonstrated that diabetes mellitus, warfarin use, and longer procedure times were predictors of increased LOS. Conclusion: This study identified predictors of increased LOS following AF CA in a pre-SDD, pre-COVID cohort and explored how these factors could influence discharge planning for high-risk populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]