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Guideline issued to reduce surgery cancellations due to patients' blood pressure

A guideline has been published to foster closer collaboration between primary and secondary care teams preparing patients with hypertension for surgery

A guideline for nurses and other healthcare professionals in primary and secondary care on managing patients with high blood pressure before surgery has been issued. 

The Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland (AAGBI) and the British Hypertension Society (BHS) have published the guideline to foster closer collaboration between primary care teams treating hypertension and hospital staff preparing patients for surgery. 

It aims to reduce unnecessary cancellations for surgery due to patients’ blood pressure. 

The guideline states that healthcare professionals in pre-operative assessment clinics need not measure the blood pressure of patients being prepared for elective surgery whose systolic and diastolic blood pressures are documented below 160/100 mmHg in their referral letters from primary care. 

AAGBI president Andrew Hartle, a co-chair of the working group that developed the guideline, said: ‘In terms of resources, you can save time in the pre-assessment clinic when you are not continually measuring blood pressure.

‘Nurses can check on more useful things, such as psychological preparation for surgery and exchange of information.’

The guideline describes best practice for measuring blood pressure, and diagnosing and treating hypertension. 

Read the guideline, which was published in the journal Anaesthesia, here.