[Prevention of hypertensive crises in the perioperative period. Efficacy and safety of the use of urapidil].

Hypertension and tachycardia are frequently encountered in the perioperative setting. Aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Urapidil when used for prevention of perioperative blood pressure elevations. 348 patients, at risk for hypertensive crises, were randomly administered either Urapidil or "no treatment". Blood pressure and heart rate were measured the day before as well as immediately before intervention and were continuously monitored during the intraoperative period. This study has shown a pronounced and well tolerated antihypertensive effect of Urapidil during anaesthesia in these patients. The effect on diastolic values was specific for Urapidil, since systolic pressure was lowered also in the control group as a consequence of anaesthesia. Urapidil treatment resulted to be effective in preventing hypertensive reactions following algogenic stimulation. This becomes particularly evident towards the end of the operative period, when the hypotensive effect attributable to the anesthetic itself progressively decreases.