Intraoperative hypotension in noncardiac surgery patients with chronic beta-blocker therapy: A matched cohort analysis

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To explore the incidence of intraoperative hypotension in patients with chronic beta-blocker therapy, expressed as time spent, area and time-weighted average under predefined mean arterial pressure thresholds. DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of a prospective observational cohort registry. SETTING: Patients ≥60 years undergoing intermediate- to high-risk noncardiac surgery with routine postoperative troponin measurements on the first three days after surgery. PATIENTS: 1468 matched sets of patients (1:1 ratio with replacement) with and without chronic beta-blocker treatment. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS: The primary outcome was the exposure to intraoperative hypotension in beta-blocker users vs. non-users. Time spent, area and time-weighted average under predefined mean arterial pressure thresholds (55-75 mmHg) were calculated to express the duration and severity of exposure. Secondary outcomes included incidence of postoperative myocardial injury and thirty-day mortality, myocardial infarction (MI) and stroke. Furthermore, analyses for patient subgroup and beta-blocker subtype were conducted. MAIN RESULTS: In patients with chronic beta-blocker therapy, no increased exposure to intraoperative hypotension was observed for all characteristics and thresholds calculated (all P > .05). Beta-blocker users had lower heart rate before, during and after surgery (70 vs. 74, 61 vs. 65 and 68 vs. 74 bpm, all P < .001, respectively). Postoperative myocardial injury (13.6% vs. 11.6%, P = .269) and thirty-day mortality (2.5% vs. 1.4%, P = .055), MI (1.4% vs. 1.5%, P = .944) and stroke (1.0% vs 0.7%, P = .474) rates were comparable. The results were consistent in subtype and subgroup analyses. CONCLUSIONS: In this matched cohort analysis, chronic beta-blocker therapy was not associated with increased exposure to intraoperative hypotension in patients undergoing intermediate- to high-risk noncardiac surgery. Furthermore, differences in patient subgroups and postoperative adverse cardiovascular events as a function of treatment regimen could not be demonstrated.