Clinical Outcomes of Discharged Patients With High Blood Pressure in the Emergency Department

BACKGROUND: Elevated blood pressure (BP) prompts immediate emergency department (ED) visits instead of outpatient care, thus constituting a high-weight concern for the ED. This study investigated the short- and long-term outcomes of high BP patients in the ED. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was conducted at King Abdulaziz University Hospital (KAUH), reviewing ED visits from January to December 2022. A total of 156 patients with high BP were included, and data on demographics, visit disposition, and mortality were tracked 7, 30, 90, and 365 days after the visit. RESULTS: The mean patient age was 53.04±15.81 years; 78 (50%) were female and 80 (51.3%) were Saudi. Common complaints included headache (46, 29.5%), dizziness (21, 13.5%), and home-detected high BP (19, 12.2%). Notably, the majority (69, 44.2%) of the patients had BP >180/120 mmHg. Regarding those with return ED visits within 30 days, 48 (30.8%) were readmitted, one (2.1%) developed hypertensive encephalopathy, and four (8.3%) experienced renal failure. CONCLUSION: High BP cases were a minor and often non-emergent reason for ED visits, with the majority being discharged home from the ED. These findings suggest the potential overutilization of EDs for non-emergent cases, highlighting the need for optimized resource allocation in hypertension management.