A Clinical Trial of a Chest-Pain Observation Unit for Patients with Unstable Angina

TLDR: A CPU located in the emergency department can be a safe, effective, and cost-saving means of ensuring that patients with unstable angina who are considered to be at intermediate risk for cardiovascular events receive appropriate care.

Abstract: Background Nearly half of patients hospitalized with unstable angina eventually receive a non–cardiac-related diagnosis, yet 5 percent of patients with myocardial infarction are inappropriately discharged from the emergency department. We evaluated the safety, efficacy, and cost of admission to a chest-pain observation unit (CPU) located in the emergency department for such patients. Methods We performed a community-based, prospective, randomized trial of the safety, efficacy, and cost of admission to a CPU as compared with those of regular hospital admission for patients with unstable angina who were considered to be at intermediate risk for cardiovascular events in the short term. A total of 424 eligible patients were randomly assigned to routine hospital admission (a monitored bed under the care of the cardiology service) or admission to the CPU (where patients were cared for according to a strict protocol including aspirin, heparin, continuous ST-segment monitoring, determination of creatine kinase is...