Overall approach to therapy
Do not lower the blood pressure too quickly or too much as ischemic damage can occur in vascular beds that have become habituated with the higher level of blood pressure (ie, autoregulation) [13].
For most hypertensive emergencies, mean arterial pressure should be reduced gradually by approximately 10 to 20 percent in the first hour and by a further 5 to 15 percent over the next 23 hours [12].
This often results in a target blood pressure of <180/<120 mmHg for the first hour and <160/<110 mmHg for the next 23 hours (but rarely <130/<80 mmHg during that time frame).