Sublingual nitroglycerin for early blood pressure control in hypertensive emergencies: observations from an emergency department clinical audit in Sri Lanka.

Thirty-seven patients met the selection criteria. Mean age was 65.8 years (SD 7.04), and 29 were males (88.4%). Mean values of systolic, diastolic and mean blood pressures on admission were 217, 137, 163 mmHg. At 5 and 10 min after sublingual nitroglycerin, mean reduction of mean arterial blood pressure by 12.3 and 16.3% was achieved. Only 2 patients (5.4%) showed an overcorrection of blood pressure. Minimum of 15 min were required to set up a nitroglycerin intravenous infusion. Sublingual nitroglycerin spray allows rapid blood pressure control in hypertensive emergencies and is a useful bridge during the time to prepare intravenous infusion.