Thirty-Day Readmissions After Carotid Artery Stenting Versus Endarterectomy: Analysis of the 2013–2014 Nationwide Readmissions Database

Contemporary, nationally representative 30-day readmissions data after carotid artery stenting (CAS) and carotid endarterectomy (CEA) are lacking. Patients undergoing CAS or CEA were identified from the 2013 to 2014 Nationwide Readmissions Databases. Propensity matching was used to balance baseline clinical characteristics. Thirty-day nonelective readmission rates, length of stay, and causes of readmission were compared. Overall, 85 337 (national estimate of 194 332) patients were identified before propensity score matching, 11 490 (13.4%) of whom underwent CAS and 73 847 (86.6%) of whom underwent CEA. Crude 30-day readmission rates were higher for patients treated with CAS than CEA (8.3% versus 6.8%;