Research
Pausing blood pressure meds on day of surgery benefits older adults
The Brief
- A trial of older adults found that pausing a patient's usual blood pressure medication on the day of surgery reduced the rate of very low blood pressure requiring treatment during the operation.
- Compared with taking the medication as normal, the pause lowered the rate of this complication.
- The trial was published by The BMJ.
Why it matters
Perioperative management of blood pressure medication in older surgical patients may change, with fewer episodes of treatment-requiring hypotension during operations.
Who’s affected
- anesthesiologists and surgical teams
- older adults scheduled for surgery
- clinicians who prescribe antihypertensive medication
- #blood pressure
- #surgery
- #older adults
- #anesthesia
- #clinical trial
- #medication
Pausing a patient's usual dose of blood pressure medication on the day of surgery reduces the rate of very low blood pressure requiring treatment during the operation compared with taking their medication as normal, finds a trial of older adults, published by The BMJ. The…
Timeline
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Pausing blood pressure meds on day of surgery benefits older adults
Trial finding published in The BMJ and reported by Medical Xpress