[Effect of muscle relaxation in hypertensive patients]

The efficacy of muscle relaxation in the treatment of hypertension has been described by several authors. Our experience with this type of technique is analyzed in this report. The clinical histories of 38 individuals who have taken part in the relaxation program since the end of 1984 (relaxation group: RG) with at least 6 months of follow up, have been reviewed. For each RG patient, two sex, age, and initial diastolic blood pressure (DBP) matched controls were found, obtaining thus a control group (CG) consisting of 70 hypertensive patients who were not participating in any relaxation program. The final efficacy of the program was evaluated recording the systolic blood pressure (SBP), the DBP, and heart rate (HR) 6 and 12 months after the initiation of the program also considering the drop outs and the need of drugs (evaluated with a therapeutic index: TI). There were no differences in the initial parameters between the two groups except for the TI (uncontrollable variable) which was higher in the RG. The final values in the RG showed a slightly lower blood pressure (RG = 135.2/86.9 mm Hg; CG = 139.4/90.4 mm Hg, p = 0.082 for the DBP) as well as a lower number of drop outs (RG = 18.4%); CG = 32.9%, p less than 0.1). 10 patients in the RG while none in the CG were medically discharged. (p = 0.000). The only significant difference found was the increase in TI in the CG (p = 0.000), while the increase observed in the RG was not statistically significant.