Monitoring of Acute Tension (Blood Pressure) Increases Detected in Hospital Emergencies

Objective: To assess whether, after an acute increase in blood pressure in the hospital emergency department, the control objectives are subsequently achieved in primary care. Design and method: Cross-sectional descriptive study assessing blood pressure figures in the Emergency Department, the days elapsed until the first visit to the Primary Care Center since the incident and until the visit in which minimal control has been obtained (defined as blood pressure <140/90 mmHg). Results: 96 patients were preselected, of which only 85 met the inclusion criteria for the study, 49 women, mean age was 69 years, 72 had a previous diagnosis of Hypertension with a mean of 10 (standard deviation +/- 9) years of evolution, 66 with previous pharmacological treatment, 20 had been referred from Primary Care. The mean systolic blood pressure on arrival at the emergency room was 181 mmHg (standard deviation +/- 20) and at discharge 152 mmHg (standard deviation +/-18.5), the diastolic blood pressure on arrival at the emergency room was 91 mmHg (standard deviation +/- 16) and at discharge 82 mmHg (standard deviation +/-11.7). From the 85 patients included, 84 followed primary care controls (98%) and 60 achieved control of arterial hypertension (70.5%), with a median in days of 12 (interquartile range 3-35) and 90 respectively (interquartile range 26.5-147.5). Conclusions: This study allows us to know that a high percentage of patients consult the Primary Care after an acute increase in blood pressure but interventions could be proposed to further reduce the time of this coordination in some cases. The blood pressure goal was achieved in 70.5% of the patients, so the causes of suboptimal control in the remaining patients would have to be reviewed.