Temporal trends in percutaneous coronary intervention in Australia: A retrospective analysis from 2000-2021.

Objective: The aim of this study was to describe the trend in percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with insertion of a stent in Australia from 2000/01 to 2020/21 and investigate trends in same-day versus non-same-day discharge following PCI. A secondary aim was to compare the rate of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) with PCI procedures, while a third aim was to compare marked PCI trend changes with the PCI guidelines during the study period.

Background: PCI with stent deployment is the most common form of interventional treatment for coronary artery disease, and its use has been expanding since 2000. However, there is a lack of descriptive studies of the national trend in Australia.

Methods: All procedures for PCI and CABG were extracted across 21 years (2000/01 to 2020/21) from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare data. Age-standardized rates were calculated using the Australian standard population as of June 2001. The ratio of PCI to CABG procedures was also calculated. Trends for PCI were stratified by age, gender, and same-day or overnight discharge episodes. Linear regression analysis was done to compare the age-standardized rates across different age categories. Segmented regression analysis was performed to ascertain the change in the age-standardized rates of PCI during the study period. Whether the changepoints in the trend were matched with guideline updates was also assessed.

Results: There were 751 728 PCI procedures in persons aged 30 years and above between 2000/01 and 2020/21. The age-standardized rate for the study period showed that persons aged 60-74 years had a higher rate of procedures (102.7) compared to persons aged 30-59 years (81.3) and 75 years and older (61.8) (P < 0.001). There were two statistically significant changepoints in the overall trend; 2005/06 and 2013/14, matched with the change in PCI guidelines. Despite the lower number of procedures for same-day discharge episodes, there has been an increasing trend since 2014/15. More than two-thirds of all stenting procedures were the insertion of a single stent. PCI to CABG procedure ratio increased from 0.6 in 2000/01 to 1.8 in 2020/21.

Conclusions: There was a varying trend in the age-standardized rate of PCI with a peak in 2005/06. The trend appears to be stabilizing in the later part of the study period, but the rate for same-day discharge episodes showed an increasing trend after 2014/15. There is consistency with changepoints in the trend and updated PCI guideline recommendations. The ratio of PCI with insertion of a stent to CABG procedure increased substantially across the study period.