Purpose: To evaluate whether same-day discharge increased the incidence of 30-day readmission (30dR) after conventional transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) at a single institution.
Materials and methods: In this retrospective study, 253 patients with HCC underwent 521 transarterial chemoembolization procedures between 2013 and 2020. TACE was performed with 50-mg doxorubicin/10-mg mitomycin C/5-10-mL ethiodized oil/particles. Patients not requiring intravenous pain medications were discharged after a 3-hour observation, and 30dR was tracked. The primary objective was to determine the incidence of 30dR in same-day discharge patients versus patients admitted for observation using the chi-square test. Secondary objectives assessed factors associated with overnight admission and factors predictive of 30dR using generalized estimated equation calculations and logistic regression.
Results: In the cohort, 24 readmissions occurred within 30 days (4.6%). Same-day discharge was completed after 331 TACE procedures with sixteen 30dRs (4.8%). Patients admitted overnight were readmitted 8 times after 190 TACE procedures (4.2%). This difference was not statistically significant (P = .4). Factors predicting overnight admission included female sex (58/190 [30.5%] vs 58/331 [17.5%], P < .001) and tumor size of ≥3.8 cm (104/190 [55%] vs 85/190 [45%]). Factors predicting 30dR included female sex (10/116 [8.6%] vs 14/405 [0.2%]) and younger age (median [interquartile range], 63 years [55-65 years] vs 65 years [59-71 years]). At regression, factors predictive of 30dR were Child-Pugh Class B/C (odds ratio [OR], 2.1; P = .04) and female sex (OR, 2.9; P = .004).
Conclusions: Same-day discharge after conventional TACE is a safe and effective strategy with 30dR rate of <5%, similar to overnight observation.
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