Blood Pressure Management in Cardiac Surgery
Introduction
Cardiac surgery has specific characteristics that make blood pressure management different. These are patients with heart disease, sometimes very severe, in which any stimulus is likely to cause significant hemodynamic instability. In addition, the need for the use of extracorporeal circulation defines different scenarios where neither hypotension nor hypertension can be treated in the same way.
Development
The causes of hemodynamic instability are different in cardiac surgery due to its peculiarities. Optimization of heart rate, volemia, peripheral vascular resistances, management during extracorporeal circulation and early identification of conditions such as vasoplegic syndrome are key in maintaining blood pressure within the limits of normality.
Conclusions
Management within the limits of normal blood pressure in the case of cardiac surgery is an important prognostic factor and the specific characteristics of the different scenarios are important to be known.
