Analysis of a Training Intervention for Pulmonary Embolism Diagnosis in Emergency Department (APEED)

Adherence to Clinical Guidelines in the Diagnosis of Pulmonary Embolism in an Emergency Department. Analysis of the Clinical Impact of a Training Intervention (APEED)

The purpose of this study is to analyze the clinical impact of an educational intervention on adherence to Clinical Practice Guidelines in an Emergency Department (ED), by using a standardized training, for improving diagnostic sensibility and reducing unnecessary scans, adverse effects and stays in the ED.

The Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau Emergency Department (ED) implemented a training program between May and June 2015 to improve compliance and adherence to recommended clinical practice and optimize the diagnosis and management of patients with suspected Pulmonary Embolism (PE). The training program was standardized, systematic and continuous, with subsequent reinforcement to ensure implementation. This paper aims to evaluate the clinical impact of the training intervention. The establishment of training measures to improve adherence to guidelines implies clinical practice improvement and benefits patients and health system. Moreover, it is a simple and inexpensive intervention, and can be easily reproduced in other ED.

All adult patients (<18 y) with suspected pulmonary embolism attended at Emergency Department will be included. Retrospective information from two different periods (before and after the training intervention) will be collected. First period: 1/1/2012 - 31/12/2012 and second Period: 01.06.2015 - 30/11/2015, pre and post intervention.

OBJECTIVES

A. Primary:

1. Analyze adherence to guidelines for the evaluation of suspected PE in the ED.
2. Determine the clinical impact of training intervention (change in adherence to guidelines after training measures among staff in Emergency Department)
3. Implementation and consolidation of a systematic, standardized, continuous training intervention for improving processes and results.

B.- Secondary

1. Analyze PE cases (presentation, clinical features, treatment, clinical evolution)
2. analyze the clinical differences in three subgroups of patients with PE: young patients (<50 years), elderly patients (<65 years) and cancer
3. Analyze the value of D-dimmer corrected by age in diagnostic algorithms
4. Analyze the results of a new algorithm (EPC + Dimmer corrected age) in the elderly population group (<65 years).

Inclusion Criteria:

• Are included
• those patients who underwent a D-dimmer for suspected PE
• all those who underwent the diagnosis of PE at discharge
• those who died from EP.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Are excluded:
• all patients who underwent D-dimmer test with a different diagnosis of EP and those who had a chronic EP