Profile of patients with hypertensive crisis seen in an emergency care unit

ABSTRACT Objective: to describe the profile of patients with hypertensive crisis treated at an Emergency Care Unit. Method: descriptive cross-sectional study carried out through the analysis of 80 medical records of patients with hypertensive crisis, treated at an emergency care unit, between March 2018 and February 2019. Data were collected using a structured script and were subjected to descriptive statistical treatment. Results: after analyzing the 80 medical records, it was found that the mean age of the treated patients was 58.03, with the adult age group being the most prevalent (53.8%). It was found that the mean systolic blood pressure was significantly higher in men than in women (p=0.013). As for symptoms, headache was the most prevalent, with 35.0%. It was found that during the treatment of the hypertensive crisis, most patients used only one drug to reduce BP, with centrally acting antiadrenergic drugs being the most cited. Regarding the outcome, most of the patients were discharged (93.8%) soon after treatment; however, 6.3% remained in short-term hospitalization until their condition stabilized. Final considerations: this study made it possible to characterize the population with hypertensive crisis treated in an emergency room, showing a possible fragility in the articulation between health care levell