Chest pain--a strong predictor of adverse cardiac events following precutaneous intervention (from the Evaluation of Platelet IIb/IIIa Inhibitor for Stenting Trial [EPISENT])].

Overview

Postprocedural chest pain remains a common problem, and irrespective of electrocardiographic changes, is associated with a higher incidence of early cardiac events. A return to the catheterization laboratory is unlikely to benefit patients with postprocedural chest pain without electrocardiographic changes with documented irreversible intraprocedural complications, or those with late postprocedural pain.