Impact of Intravenous Antihypertensives on Outcomes Among Hospitalized Patients

Reduction of Intravenous Antihypertensives through Clinical Decision Support in a Large Safety Net System

BACKGROUND

Asymptomatic severe hypertension (also known as hypertensive urgency) is frequently encountered in the hospital. Previous evidence suggests that management with one-time doses of intravenous (IV) antihypertensives may increase adverse events. Despite this, single-dose treatment remains common in the emergency department and inpatient settings.

METHODS

This quality initiative was launched at New York City Health + Hospitals, the largest safety net hospital system in the United States. The initiative involved two changes to electronic orders for IV hydralazine and IV labetalol: a nonintrusive advisory statement within the order instructions and a mandatory requirement to document the indication for IV antihypertensive use.

RESULTS

This initiative took place from November 2021 to October 2022. Of the indications selected for IV antihypertensive orders, 60.7% were for hypertensive emergency, 15.3% were for patients who were strictly NPO, 21.2% were for other, and 2.8% selected more than one indication. For ED-only encounters, aggregate IV hydralazine and IV labetalol orders per 1,000 patient encounters were 2.53 preintervention and 1.55 postintervention (38.7% reduction, p < 0.001). For inpatient encounters, aggregate IV hydralazine and IV labetalol orders per 1,000 patient-days were 18.25 preintervention and 15.81 postintervention (13.4% reduction, p < 0.001). Similar trends were observed for individual orders of IV hydralazine and IV labetalol. There were significant reductions in 7 of the 11 hospitals in inpatient administration of aggregate IV hydralazine and labetalol orders per 1,000 patient-days.

CONCLUSION

This quality improvement initiative successfully reduced unnecessary IV antihypertensive use in an 11-hospital safety net system.

Treatment of Hypertension Among Non-Cardiac Hospitalized Patients

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

This review provides a contemporary perspective and approach for the treatment of hypertension (HTN) among patients hospitalized for non-cardiac reasons.

RECENT FINDINGS

Elevated blood pressure (BP) is a common dilemma encountered by physicians, but guidelines are lacking to assist providers in managing hospitalized patients with elevated BP. Inpatient HTN is common, and management remains challenging given the paucity of data and misperceptions among training and practicing physicians. The outcomes associated with intensifying BP treatment during hospitalization can be harmful, with little to no long-term benefits. Data also suggests that medication intensification at discharge is not associated with improved outpatient BP control. Routine inpatient HTN control in the absence of end-organ damage has not shown to be helpful and may have deleterious effects. Since routine use of intravenous antihypertensives in hospitalized non-cardiac patients has been shown to prolong inpatient stay without benefits, their routine use should be avoided for inpatient HTN control. Future large-scale trials measuring clinical outcomes during prolonged follow-up may help to identify specific circumstances where inpatient HTN control may be beneficial.