[Perioperative heart rate in patients taking beta-blockers: reality and efficiency of the treatment]
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 13, 2026

Testing the Efficacy of Pharmacological Agents in a Pericardial Target Delivery Model in the Swine
Published on: July 7, 2016
N Danton1, C Ferretti, M Benoist
1Service d'anesthésie-réanimation 1, centre hospitalier Lyon-Sud, Pierre-Benite cedex, France.
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.
Related Concept Videos
Heart Failure Drugs: β-Blockers
Adrenergic Antagonists: Pharmacological Actions of β-Receptor Blockers
Antihypertensive Drugs: Types of β-Blockers
Factors Influencing Heart Rate
Let us explore the significant factors affecting heart rate, including age, body temperature, posture, acute pain, chemical influences,...
Increased pulse rate
Many factors can elevate the risk of developing tachycardia. These include advanced age, a family history of arrhythmias, and an...
Antiarrhythmic Drugs: Class II Agents as β-Adrenergic Blockers