In contrast to ST-elevation myocardial infarction treatment, there is no clear definition for when and which patient to discharge. Our study's main goal was to test the hypothesis that an early discharge strategy (within 48 to 56 hours) in patients with successful primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) is as safe as in patients who stay longer. The Early Discharge after Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention trial was designed in a prospective, randomized, multicenter fashion and registered with http://clinicaltrials.gov (NCT01860079). Of 900 patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction, the study randomized 769 eligible patients to the early or the standard discharge group. The study's primary outcomes were all-cause mortality and readmission at 30 days. We considered assessment of functional status and health-related quality of life to be secondary outcomes. The early discharge group had significantly shorter length of hospital stay compared with the standard discharge group (45.99 ± 9.12 vs 114.87 ± 63.53 hours; p <0.0001). Neither all-cause mortality nor readmissions were different between the 2 study groups (p = 0.684 and p = 0.061, respectively). Quality-of-life measures were not statistically different between the 2 study groups. Our study reveals that discharge within 48 to 56 hours after successful PPCI is feasible, safe, and does not increase the 30-day readmission rate. Moreover, the patients perceived health status at 30 days did not differ with early discharge.
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