COMPARATIVE STUDY
JOURNAL ARTICLE
RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL
RESEARCH SUPPORT, NON-U.S. GOV'T
Add like
Add dislike
Add to saved papers

A prospective evaluation of labetalol versus nicardipine for blood pressure management in patients with acute stroke.

Neurocritical Care 2013 August
INTRODUCTION: Acute hypertension is common following stroke and contributes to poor outcomes. Labetalol and nicardipine are often used for acute hypertension but there are little data comparing the two. This study is to evaluate the therapeutic response and tolerability of these two agents following acute stroke.

METHODS: This is a prospective, pseudo-randomized study comparing labetalol and nicardipine for blood pressure (BP) management in acute stroke patients. Patients who presented to the emergency department (ED) with confirmed hemorrhagic or ischemic stroke received either labetalol or nicardipine for 24 h from ED admission. Therapeutic response was assessed by achievement of goal BP, time spent within goal, and variability in BP. Clinical outcomes including length of stay, clinical status at discharge, and in-hospital mortality were recorded.

RESULTS: 54 patients were enrolled (labetalol = 28; nicardipine = 26) with 25 ± 6 BP measurements per patient. Majority of patients had a hemorrhagic stroke and baseline characteristics were similar between groups. All patients who received nicardipine achieved goal BP compared to 17 (61 %) in the labetalol group (p < 0.001) with 89 % nicardipine-treated patients achieved goal BP within 60 min of drug initiation versus 25 % in labetalol group (p < 0.001). Nicardipine group had better maintenance of BP, a greater percentage of time spent within goal, and significantly less BP variability compared to labetalol group (p < 0.001). Less rescue antihypertensive agents were given to nicardipine group than labetalol group (p < 0.001). The incidences of adverse drug events were similar between groups and there were no differences in clinical outcomes.

CONCLUSION: In acutely hypertensive stroke patients, superior therapeutic response was achieved with nicardipine versus labetalol. Despite this, there was no demonstrable difference in clinical outcomes.

Full text links

We have located links that may give you full text access.
Can't access the paper?
Try logging in through your university/institutional subscription. For a smoother one-click institutional access experience, please use our mobile app.

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app

Mobile app image

Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app

All material on this website is protected by copyright, Copyright © 1994-2024 by WebMD LLC.
This website also contains material copyrighted by 3rd parties.

By using this service, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy.

Your Privacy Choices Toggle icon

You can now claim free CME credits for this literature searchClaim now

Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app