Emergency medicine journal : EMJ
-
Randomized Controlled Trial
Feasibility of the Manchester Acute Coronary Syndromes (MACS) decision rule to safely reduce unnecessary hospital admissions: a pilot randomised controlled trial.
Observational studies suggest that the Manchester Acute Coronary Syndromes (MACS) decision rule can effectively 'rule out' and 'rule in' acute coronary syndromes (ACS) following a single blood test. In a pilot randomised controlled trial, we aimed to determine whether a large trial is feasible. ⋯ In this pilot trial, use of the MACS rule led to a significant increase in safe discharges from the ED but a larger, fully powered trial remains necessary. Our findings seem to support the feasibility of that trial.