Comparison of High-Sensitivity Troponin T Assay to Conventional Troponin T Assay for Rule Out of Acute Coronary Syndrome in the Emergency Department

Approximately 5% of all emergency department (ED) visits require evaluation of chest pain and atypical symptoms for diagnosis or exclusion of myocardial infarction or acute coronary syndrome (ACS) (P. Rui, K. Kang, & J. J. Ashman, 2016). Health care providers rely on effective tests and assessment protocols for definitive diagnosis of ACS. Cardiac biomarkers in troponin T assays enable rapid exclusion of ACS. This project compared high-sensitivity troponin T assay to conventional troponin T assay in reducing unnecessary stress tests for ACS exclusion, length of stay in the ED, and rate of readmissions within 30 days after ACS exclusion and discharge. A retrospective review of 300 medical records for exclusion of ACS compared 150 patients receiving conventional troponin T assay and 150 patients receiving high-sensitivity troponin T assay. The mean length of stay in the preintervention group was 8.3 hr (SD = 1.60) compared with 3.9 hr (SD = 1.56) in the postintervention group (t(298) = 24.56, p
Source: Advanced Emergency Nursing Journal - Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: PROCEDURAL COLUMN Source Type: research