Nitroprusside and ketanserin in the treatment of postoperative hypertension following coronary artery bypass grafting: a haemodynamic and ventilatory comparison.

Postoperative hypertension following coronary artery bypass grafting is usually treated with vasodilating agents like nitroprusside. In recent studies ketanserin, a 5-hydroxytryptamine type 2 antagonist, appeared to be effective in the treatment of this clinical syndrome. In 20 patients, divided into two comparable groups, nitroprusside and ketanserin were compared with respect to their haemodynamic and ventilatory profiles. The study showed that both agents were equally effective in decreasing the raised systolic blood pressure, but that ketanserin was more advantageous with respect to the absence of reflex tachycardia and the unchanged shunt fraction.