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134 - Hypertensive Emergencies Demystified: A Brief Clinical Review
HelixTalk - Rosalind Franklin University's College of Pharmacy Podcast
English - August 03, 2021 10:00 - 43 minutes - 36.1 MB - ★★★★★ - 549 ratingsMedicine Health & Fitness Education drugs medicine rosalindfranklin medications pharmacist pharmacy pharmd rfums Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
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In this episode, we provide a concise review of the diagnostic criteria and general treatment approach to patients with hypertensive emergencies.
Key Concepts
Hypertensive “urgency” is a misnomer - patients do not require immediate therapy and definitely should not receive IV therapy. In most cases, the goal blood pressure in hypertensive emergencies is to decrease by no more than 25% in the first hour, achieve a BP of 160/100 in hours 2-6, then over the next 24-48 hours lower to a more normal blood pressure goal. Labetalol is the preferred IV push antihypertensive UNLESS patients have acute heart failure, bradycardia, or possibly in patients with asthma/COPD. Nicardipine is one of the most commonly used IV infusions for hypertensive emergencies. Most other continuous infusions are reserved for special types of hypertensive emergencies (e.g. nitroglycerin for pulmonary edema or acute MI, esmolol for aortic dissection).