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.