Acute severe hypertension management depends on the presence of target-organ injury, dictating IV therapy in the ICU versus oral therapy in an ambulatory setting.
Acute severe hypertension accompanied by acute target-organ injury (hypertensive emergency) requires immediate treatment with IV antihypertensive agents (based on the type of target-organ damage) in an ICU. In the absence of target-organ injury, treatment involves oral medication in the ambulatory setting.
Aldo J. Peixoto (Wed,) studied this question.