[Perioperative heart rate in patients taking beta-blockers: reality and efficiency of the treatment]

Abstract

Objective: To compare perioperative heart rate (HR) control of patients chronically exposed to beta-blockers (BB) with those of patients whom BB treatment was initiated one week preoperatively.

Methods: HR was noticed at three successive time periods: the anaesthesia visit, just before induction of anaesthesia, and during surgery (maximum and minimum HR). HR, presented as mean+/-SD, was compared among 3 groups of patients: BB chronic treatment, preoperative BB, and a control group not taking BB.

Results: Four hundred (and) six patients were included: 181 chronic BB patients, 20 preoperative BB, and 205 control patients. As compared to the control group, HR of chronic BB patients were lower (P<0.05) than those of the control group at the three time period of the study. In the preoperative BB patient group, one week BB treatment resulted in a mean 30% reduction of HR. Just before induction of anaesthesia, HR of preoperative BB patients was lower than that of chronic BB patients (55+/-11 vs 67+/-13 b/min; P<0.05).

Conclusion: Beta-blockers treatment initiated one week before surgery could be more effective on perioperative HR control than chronic BB treatment.