Abstract
The concept of “perioperative hypertensive emergency” must be defined differently from that of ambulatory hypertensive emergency in view of its unique clinical considerations in an atypical setting. It should be noted that moderately high normal blood pressure (BP) values in the perioperative setting often trigger situations requiring immediate treatment in what would otherwise be a “BP-acceptable” non-surgical condition. Commonly recognized circumstances that may result in a perioperative hypertensive emergency include exacerbation of severe mitral insufficiency, hypertension resulting in acute decompensated heart failure, hypertension caused by acute catecholamine excess, rebound hypertension after withdrawal of antihypertensive medications, hypertension resulting in bleeding from vascular surgery suture lines, intracerebral hemorrhage, aortic dissection, hypertension associated with preeclampsia, and hypertension associated with autonomic dysreflexia. In addition, perioperative BP lability has been reported to increase the risk for stroke, acute kidney injury, and 30-day mortality in patients undergoing cardiac surgery.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: •• Of major importance
Kearney PM, Whelton M, Reynolds K, Muntner P, Whelton PK, He J. Global burden of hypertension: analysis of worldwide data. Lancet. 2005;365:217–23.
Dannenberg AL, Garrison RJ, Kannel WB. Incidence of hypertension in the Framingham Study. Am J Public Health. 1988;78:676–9.
Ezzati M, Oza S, Danaei G, Murray CJ. Trends and cardiovascular mortality effects of state-level blood pressure and uncontrolled hypertension in the United States. Circulation. 2008;117:905–14.
Hajjar I, Kotchen TA. Trends in prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension in the United States, 1988–2000. JAMA. 2003;290:199–206.
Wang TJ, Vasan RS. Epidemiology of uncontrolled hypertension in the United States. Circulation. 2005;112:1651–62.
Mangano DT. Peri-operative cardiovascular morbidity: new developments. Baillière's Clin Anaesthesiol. 1999;13:335–48.
Mangano DT, Layug EL, Wallace A, et al. Effect of atenolol on mortality and cardiovascular morbidity after noncardiac surgery. Multicenter Study of Perioperative Ischemia Research Group. N Engl J Med. 1996;335:1713–20.
Vasan RS, Beiser A, Seshadri S, et al. Residual lifetime risk for developing hypertension in middle-aged women and men: the Framingham Heart Study. JAMA. 2002;287:1003–10.
Strandgaard S, Olesen J, Skinhøj E. Autoregulation of brain circulation in severe arterial hypertension. BMJ. 1973;1:507–10.
Immink RV, van den Born BJ, van Montfrans GA, et al. Impaired cerebral autoregulation in patients with malignant hypertension. Circulation. 2004;110(15):2241–5.
Toyoda K, Fujii K, Ibayashi S, et al. Attenuation and recovery of brain stem autoregulation in spontaneously hypertensive rats. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab. 1998;18(3):305–10.
Chobanian AV, Bakris GL, Black HR, et al. The seventh report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, detection, evaluation, and treatment of high blood pressure: the JNC 7 report. JAMA. 2003;289:2560–72. This article provides important consensus for the diagnosis, treatment, and prognostication of hypertension according to classification guidelines.
Hennein HA, Ebba H, Rodriguez JL, et al. Relationship of the proinflammatory cytokines to myocardial ischemia and dysfunction after uncomplicated coronary revascularization. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 1994;108:626–35.
Kobzar G, Mardla V, Rätsep I, Samel N. Platelet activity before and after coronary artery bypass grafting. Platelets. 2006;17:289–91.
Safar ME, Levy BI, Struijker-Boudier H. Current perspectives on arterial stiffness and pulse pressure in hypertension and cardiovascular diseases. Circulation. 2003;107(22):2864–9.
Imoto K, Hiro T, Fujii T. Longitudinal structural determinants of atherosclerotic plaque vulnerability: a computational analysis of stress distribution using vessel and three-dimensional intravascular ultrasound imaging. Am Coll Cardiol. 2005;46:1507–15.
Lee KW, Blann AD, Lip GY. High pulse pressure and nondipping circadian blood pressure in patients with coronary artery disease: relationship to thrombogenesis and endothelial damage/dysfunction. Am J Hypertens. 2004;18:104–15.
Suleiman MS, Zacharowski K, Angelini GD. Inflammatory response and cardioprotection during open-heart surgery: the importance of anaesthetics. Br J Pharmacol. 2008;153:21–33.
O'Rourke MF, Safar ME. Relationship between aortic stiffening and microvascular disease in brain and kidney: cause and logic of therapy. Hypertension. 2005;46:200–4.
Browner WS, Li J, Mangano DT. In-hospital and long-term mortality in male veterans following noncardiac surgery. The Study of Perioperative Ischemia Research Group. JAMA. 1992;268:228–32.
Charlson ME, MacKenzie CR, Gold JP, Ales KL, Topkins M, Shires GT. Intraoperative blood pressure. What patterns identify patients at risk for postoperative complications? Ann Surg. 1990;212:567–80.
Forrest JB, Rehder K, Cahalan MK, et al. Multicenter study of general anesthesia. III. Predictors of severe perioperative adverse outcomes. Anesthesiology. 1992;76:3–15.
Goldman L, Caldera DL. Risks of general anesthesia and elective operation in the hypertensive patient. Anesthesiology. 1979;50:285–92.
Goldman L, Caldera DL, Nussbaum SR, et al. Multifactorial index of cardiac risk in noncardiac surgical procedures. N Engl J Med. 1977;297:845.
Mangano DT, Browner WS, Hollenberg M, et al. Association of perioperative myocardial ischemia with cardiac morbidity and mortality in men undergoing noncardiac surgery. The Study of Perioperative Ischemia Research Group. N Engl J Med. 1990;323:1781–8.
Mancia G, De Backer G, Dominiczak A. 2007 Guidelines for the Management of Arterial Hypertension: The Task Force for the Management of Arterial Hypertension of the European Society of Hypertension (ESH) and of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). J Hypertens. 2007;25:1105–87.
Systolic Hypertension in the Elderly Program. Prevention of stroke by antihypertensive drug treatment in older persons with isolated systolic hypertension. Final results of the Systolic Hypertension in the Elderly Program (SHEP). SHEP Cooperative Research Group. JAMA. 1991;265:3255–64.
Dart AM, Kingwell BA. Pulse pressure–a review of mechanisms and clinical relevance. Am Coll Cardiol. 2001;15:975–84.
Klassen PS, Lowrie EG, Reddan DN, et al. Association between pulse pressure and mortality in patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis. JAMA. 2002;287:1548–55.
Domanski MJ, Davis BR, Pfeffer MA, et al. Isolated systolic hypertension: prognostic information provided by pulse pressure. Hypertension. 1999;34:375–80.
Franklin SS, Khan SA, Wong ND, et al. Is pulse pressure useful in predicting risk for coronary heart disease? The Framingham heart study. Circulation. 1999;100:354–60.
Vuylsteke A, Feneck RO, Jolin-Mellgård A, et al. Perioperative blood pressure control: a prospective survey of patient management in cardiac surgery. J Cardiothorac Vasc Anesth. 2000;14:269–73.
Howell SJ, Sear YM, Yeates D, Goldacre M, Sear JW, Foëx P. Hypertension, admission blood pressure and perioperative cardiovascular risk. Anaesthesia. 1996;51:1000–42.
Reich DL, Bodian CA, Krol M, et al. Intraoperative hemodynamic predictors of mortality, stroke, and myocardial infarction after coronary artery bypass surgery. Anesth Analg. 1999;89:814–22.
Aronson S, Boisvert D, Lapp W. Isolated systolic hypertension is associated with adverse outcomes from coronary artery bypass grafting surgery. Anesth Analg. 2002;94:1079–84.
Benjo A, Thompson RE, Fine D, et al. Pulse pressure is an age-independent predictor of stroke development after cardiac surgery. Hypertension. 2007;50:630–5. This article provides the first evidence from a single-center trial that subtle changes in presenting pulse pressure BP outside an otherwise commonly acceptable clinical range predict stroke following cardiac surgery.
Aboyans V, Frank M, Nubret K, Lacroix P, Laskar M. Heart rate and pulse pressure at rest are major prognostic markers of early postoperative complications after coronary bypass surgery. Eur J Cardiothorac Surg. 2008;33(6):971–6.
Aronson S, Dyke C, Levy J, Lumb P, Stierer K, Cheung A, et al. Perioperative blood pressure variability predicts mortality following cardiac surgery. Anesth Analg. 2011;113:19–30. This article provides the first evidence from a multicenter trial that subtle changes in perioperative BP outside an otherwise commonly acceptable clinical range are independently associated with 30-day mortality.
Aronson S, Phillips-Bute B, Stafford-Smith M, Fontes M, Gaca J, Mathew JP, et al. The association of postcardiac surgery acute kidney injury with intraoperative systolic blood pressure hypotension. Anesthesiol Res Pract. 2013;2013:174091. doi:10.1155/2013/174091. Epub 2013 Nov 14.
Fontes ML, Aronson S, Mathew JP, et al. Pulse pressure and risk of adverse outcome in coronary bypass surgery. Anesth Analg. 2008;107:1122–9.
Gottesman RF, Hillis AE, Grega MA, et al. Early postoperative cognitive dysfunction and blood pressure during coronary artery bypass graft operation. Arch Neurol. 2007;64(8):1111–4.
Bucerius J, Gummert JF, Borger MA, Walther T, Doll N, Onnasch JF, et al. Stroke after cardiac surgery: a risk factor analysis of 16,184 consecutive adult patients. Ann Thorac Surg. 2003;75:472–8.
Rady MY, Ryan T, Starr NJ. Perioperative determinants of morbidity and mortality in elderly patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Crit Care Med. 1998;26:225–35.
Aronson S, Fontes ML, Miao Y, Mangano DT. Risk index for perioperative renal dysfunction/failure: critical dependence on pulse pressure hypertension. Circulation. 2007;115:733–42. This article provides strong evidence from a multicenter database evaluation that preoperative pulse pressure is a strong and important predictor of postoperative renal dysfunction following cardiac surgery.
Brienza N, Giglio M, Marucci M, Fiore T. Does perioperative hemodynamic optimization protect renal function in surgical patients? A meta-analytic study. Crit Care Med. 2009;37:2079–90.
Swaminathan M, Shaw AD, Phillips-Bute B, et al. Trends in acute renal failure associated with coronary artery bypass graft surgery in the United States. Crit Care Med. 2007;35:2286–91.
Bahar I, Akgul A, Ozatik MA, et al. Acute renal failure following open heart surgery: risk factors and prognosis. Perfusion. 2005;20:317–22.
Fischer UM, Weissenberger WK, Warters RD, Geissler HJ, Allen SJ, Mehlhorn U. Impact of cardiopulmonary bypass management on postcardiac surgery renal function. Perfusion. 2002;17:401–6.
Brown JR, Cochran RP, Leavitt BJ, et al. for the Northern New England Cardiovascular Disease Study Group: multivariable prediction of renal insufficiency developing after cardiac surgery. Circulation. 2007;116(11 Suppl):I139–43.
Janssen DP, Noyez L, van Druten JA, Skotnicki SH, Lacquet LK. Predictors of nephrological morbidity after coronary artery bypass surgery. Cardiovasc Surg. 2002;10:222–7.
Weir MR, Aronson S, Avery E, et al. Kidney injury following cardiac surgery and the role of perioperative blood pressure control. Am J Nephrol. 2011;33(5):438–52.
Gaudino M, Luciani N, Giungi S, et al. Different profiles of patients who require dialysis after cardiac surgery. Ann Thorac Surg. 2005;79:825–30.
Almeida JB, Saragoça MA, Tavares A, Cezareti ML, Draibe SA, Ramos OL. Severe hypertension induces disturbances of renal autoregulation. Hypertension. 1992;19(2 Suppl):II279–83.
Rosner MH, Okusa MD. Acute kidney injury associated with cardiac surgery. Clin J Am Soc Nephrol. 2006;1:19–32.
Aronson S, Stafford-Smith M, Phillips-Bute B, Shaw A, Gaca J, Newman M. Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology Research Endeavors. Intraoperative systolic blood pressure variability predicts 30-day mortality in aortocoronary bypass surgery patients. Anesthesiology. 2010;113:305–12. This article provides strong evidence from a single-center database over eight years and 1 million data points that subtle changes in intraoperative BP outside an otherwise commonly acceptable clinical range are independently associated with 30-day mortality.
Ross Jr J. On variations in the cardiac hypertrophic response to pressure overload. Circulation. 1997;95:1349–51.
Vasan RS, Levy D. The role of hypertension in the pathogenesis of heart failure. A clinical mechanistic overview. Arch Intern Med. 1996;156(16):1789–96.
Gandhi SK, Powers JC, Nomeir AM, et al. The pathogenesis of acute pulmonary edema associated with hypertension. N Engl J Med. 2001;344:17–22.
Iriarte M, Murga N, Sagastagoitia D, et al. Congestive heart failure from left ventricular diastolic dysfunction in systemic hypertension. Am J Cardiol. 1993;71:308–12.
Kouchoukos NT, Dougenis D. Surgery of the thoracic aorta. N Engl J Med. 1997;336:1876–88.
Nienaber CA, Eagle KA. Aortic dissection: new frontiers in diagnosis and management: Part II: therapeutic management and follow-up. Circulation. 2003;108:772–8.
Selim M. Perioperative stroke. N Engl J Med. 2007;356:706–13.
POISE Study Group, Devereaux PJ, Yang H, Yusuf S, Guyatt G, Leslie K, et al. Effects of extended-release metoprolol succinate in patients undergoing non-cardiac surgery (POISE trial): a randomised controlled trial. Lancet. 2008;371:1839–47.
Bijker JB, Persoon S, Peelen LM, Moons KGM, Kalkman CJ, Kappelle LJ, et al. Intraoperative hypotension and perioperative ischemic stroke after general surgery: a nested case-control study. Anesthesiology. 2012;116:658–64.
Davis MJ, Menon BK, Baghirzada LB, Campos-Herrera CR, Goyal M, Hill MD, et al. Anesthetic management and outcome in patients during endovascular therapy for acute stroke. Anesthesiology. 2012;116(2):396–405.
McDonagh DL, Mathew JP. Perioperative stroke and associated mortality after noncardiac, nonneurologic surgery. Anesthesiology. 2011;114:1263–4.
Bateman BT, Schumacher HC, Wang S, Shaefi S, Berman MF. Perioperative acute ischemic stroke in noncardiac and nonvascular surgery: incidence, risk factors, and outcomes. Anesthesiology. 2009;110:231–8.
Broderick J, Connolly S, Feldmann E, et al. Guidelines for the management of spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage in adults: 2007 update: a guideline from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association Stroke Council, High Blood Pressure Research Council, and the Quality of Care and Outcomes in Research Interdisciplinary Working Group. Stroke. 2007;38:2001–23.
Basali A, Mascha EJ, Kalfas I, et al. Relation between perioperative hypertension and intracranial hemorrhage after craniotomy. Anesthesiology. 2000;93:48–54.
Manning L, Hirakawa Y, Arima H, Wang X, Chalmers J, Wang J, et al. INTERACT2 investigators. Blood pressure variability and outcome after acute intracerebral haemorrhage: a post-hoc analysis of INTERACT2, a randomised controlled trial. Lancet Neurol. 2014;13(4):364–73.
Fujii Y, Takeuchi S, Sasaki O, Minakawa T, Koike T, Tanaka R. Ultra-early rebleeding in spontaneous subarachnoid hemorrhage. J Neurosurg. 1996;84:35–42.
Ohkuma H, Tsurutani H, Suzuki S. Incidence and significance of early aneurysmal rebleeding before neurosurgical or neurological management. Stroke. 2001;32:1176–80.
Berge KH, Lanier WL. Myocardial infarction accompanying acute clonidine withdrawal in a patient without a history of ischemic coronary artery disease. Anesth Analg. 1991;72:259–61.
Houston MC. Abrupt cessation of treatment in hypertension: consideration of clinical features, mechanisms, prevention and management of the discontinuation syndrome. Am Heart J. 1981;102:415–30.
Metz S, Klein C, Morton N. Rebound hypertension after discontinuation of transdermal clonidine therapy. Am J Med. 1987;82:17.
Psaty BM, Koepsell TD, Wagner EH, et al. The relative risk of incident coronary heart disease associated with recently stopping the use of beta-blockers. JAMA. 1990;263:1653.
Sellevold OF, Raeder J, Stenseth R. Undiagnosed phaeochromocytoma in the perioperative period. Case reports. Acta Anaesthesiol Scand. 1985;29:474.
Sherbahn R. Spontaneous ruptured subcapsular liver hematoma associated with pregnancy. A case report. J Reprod Med. 1996;41(2):125–8.
Miguelote RF, Costa V, Vivas J, Gonzaga L, Menezes CA. Postpartum spontaneous rupture of a liver hematoma associated with preeclampsia and HELLP syndrome. Arch Gynecol Obstet. 2009;279(6):923–6.
Lindan R, Joiner E, Freehafer AA, Hazel C. Incidence and clinical features of autonomic dysreflexia in patients with spinal cord injury. Paraplegia. 1980;18:285–92.
Naftchi NE, Richardson JS. Autonomic dysreflexia: pharmacological management of hypertensive crises in spinal cord injured patients. J Spinal Cord Med. 1997;20:355–60.
Blacker SN, Brown CQ, Tarant NS. Autonomic dysreflexia-like syndrome in a T12 paraplegic during thoracic spine surgery. Anesth Analg. 2010;111(5):1290–2.
Eltorai IM, Wong DH, Lacerna M, Comarr AE, Montroy R. Surgical aspects of autonomic dysreflexia. J Spinal Cord Med. 1997;20(3):361–4.
Compliance with Ethics Guidelines
Conflict of Interest
Solomon Aronson has received consultancy fees from The Medicines Company.
Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent
This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
This article is part of the Topical Collection on Hypertensive Emergencies
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Aronson, S. Perioperative Hypertensive Emergencies. Curr Hypertens Rep 16, 448 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11906-014-0448-6
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11906-014-0448-6