What is a safe blood pressure for mobilising early/acute stroke patients

I cant find any guidelines for this in NICE or the RCP.

Hi Keith,

Not to be too smart about it but safe blood pressure is safe blood pressure regardless. The only caveat is that if you expect there to be a sudden drop in BP. A CEA comes to mind (immediately post-op though) or orthostatic hypotension as a background to the CVA or a fluctuating BP as per observation chart. You should be aware from the nursing staff if the patient has cardiovascular issues.

Hope that helps.

Hi,

@ apocalypse: I don't think that Keith is concerned about a hypotension, but probably much more about hypertension and the risk of another CVA occuring. Is that right?


@ Keith: I did some research into exactly your question a few years ago (quite a few years actually). The result was, that there is no general value for blood pressure or MAF that determines when mobilising patients after CVA is "safe".
The results were a little better for haemorrhagic strokes, but there was no consistency in values to warrant putting these into a general guideline.
I came to the conclusion, that we have to ask for "safe BP" for each patient individually and get medical clearance from a Doctor in charge, as (like apocalypse said) the variances among the patients in regards to their medical history/ problems is huge and just as important.

Regards,
Fyzzio