Management of acute venous thromboembolism among a cohort of patients discharged directly from the emergency department

OBJECTIVE: To report the proportion of patients discharged directly from the emergency department (ED) on traditional therapy (parenteral anticoagulant±warfarin) or a direct oral anticoagulant (DOAC) for the management of acute venous thromboembolism (VTE). DESIGN: Retrospective medical record review across four EDs in Edmonton, Alberta, two in Regina, Saskatchewan and three in rural Alberta. SETTING: EDs from April 2014 through March 2015. PARTICIPANTS: Discharged directly from the ED with acute VTE. Patients were excluded if they had another indication for anticoagulants, were pregnant/breastfeeding or anticipated lifespan <3 months. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Primarily, the proportion of patients discharged directly from the ED that were prescribed traditional therapy or a DOAC, with comparisons between Edmonton, Regina and rural Alberta. Secondarily, therapy selection was compared based on deep vein thrombosis (DVT) versus pulmonary embolism (PE) and clot burden. Dosing of DOACs was assessed (when applicable) and follow-up in the community was compared. RESULTS: After screening 1723 patients, 417 (24.2%) were included with DVT and PE occurring in 65.5% and 34.5%, respectively. More patients with PE were discharged from EDs in Edmonton (43%) than Regina (7%). Overall, the majority of patients were discharged on traditional therapy (70.7%), with 27.8% receiving a DOAC. Uptake of DOAC use was highest in rural Alberta (53.3%) compared with Edmonton (29.6%) and Regina (12.1%). DOACs were more commonly prescribed for PE (34.0%) than DVT (24.5%) (p=0.04), proximal versus distal DVT (28.4% and 17.3%; p<0.001), and when prescribed were appropriately dosed in 79.3%. Follow-up most commonly occurred via a VTE clinic in Edmonton or family physician in Regina and rural Alberta. CONCLUSIONS: Regional variation in discharging patients directly from the ED with PE is evident. While traditional therapy is most common, uptake of DOACs was modest given the timing of indication approval.