Emergency Department Assessment of Chest Pain Score (EDACS)
Why Use
Patients requiring serial blood testing (serial troponin markers typically at 0 and 6-hours to rule out myocardial infarction) and further risk stratification require an extended emergency department evaluation, leading to crowding and bed allocation problems. The authors of this study were able to find a low-risk group of patients (~45%) that could safely be discharged from the ED after two biomarkers, EKG, and history and physical exam.
When to Use
Patients with chest pain or other anginal symptoms requiring evaluation for possible acute coronary syndrome who may be potentially low risk and appropriate for early discharge from the emergency department.
Formula
Pearls / Pitfalls
The EDACS-ADP study included any symptoms >5 minutes that the attending thought were worth working up for possible ACS. This is a broader definition than other studies like the Vancouver Chest Pain Score which only included chest pain patients specifically. The EDACS-ADP safely identifies a higher proportion of patients as low-risk for MACE than other ACS clinical decision scores. Like other chest pain evaluation studies, the primary outcome was MACE (major adverse cardiac event), as defined by any of the following: ST-elevation or non-ST-elevation MI. Need for emergency revascularization. Death from cardiovascular causes. Ventricular arrhythmia. Cardiac arrest. Cardiogenic shock. High atrio-ventricular block. The goal of these rules is to identify a low-risk population that needs less testing than higher-risk patients (it is a rule-out rule to “rule-out” patients at high risk of cardiac disease, and therefore is not terribly specific). Goals for sensitivity of the rule were ≥99% and this was achieved in the original study (see Evidence Appraisal ). The score was created initially without EKG or biomarkers, so that these could then be included in the EDACS-ADP (accelerated diagnostic protocol), which does include EKG and troponin testing at 0h and 2 hours. While known CAD and cardiac risk factors are included in the final model for clinical relevance and to improve face validity of the score, note that they were not statistically identified as independent variables in the multivariate logistic regression, and as such there may be a paradoxical decrease in predicted risk after the cutoff age of 50 years. Inclusion of these variables did not affect the tool's performance ( Than 2014 ).
Management
For low-risk patients: consider other causes of chest pain due to aortic, esophageal, pulmonary, cardiac, and abdominal, and muskuloskeletal sources prior to discharge. For non-low-risk patients: treat per usual chest pain protocols, including but not limited to consideration of aspirin, nitroglycerin, and serial EKGs and biomarkers at minimum.
Critical Actions
Low Risk: patient safe for discharge to early outpatient follow-up investigation (or proceed to earlier inpatient testing). Not Low Risk: proceed with usual care with further observation and delayed troponin.
Advice
Barring other concerning features for acute coronary syndrome or other life-threatening causes of chest pain (pneumothorax, pulmonary embolism, cardiac tamponade, aortic dissection, esophageal rupture, etc), patients that meet the low-risk criteria can be considered for discharge with close follow-up with their primary care physician after negative 0-hr and 2-hr troponin testing. Patients who do not meet the low-risk criteria should be ruled-out for myocardial infarction with serial EKGs and biomarkers and risk stratified per normal chest pain guidelines and protocols.
More Information
Low risk cohort: EDACS <16 and EKG shows no new ischemia and 0-hr and 2-hr troponin both negative. Recommendation for low risk cohort: safe for discharge to early outpatient follow-up investigation (or proceed to earlier inpatient testing). Not low risk cohort: EDACS ≥16 or EKG shows new ischemia or 0-hr or 2-hr troponin positive. Recommendation for not low risk cohort: proceed with usual care with further observation and delayed troponin.