J Emerg Med
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Multicenter Study
THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN SYSTOLIC BLOOD PRESSURE AND HEART RATE IN EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT PATIENTS: A MULTICENTER COHORT STUDY.
Guidelines and textbooks assert that tachycardia is an early and reliable sign of hypotension, and an increased heart rate (HR) is believed to be an early warning sign for the development of shock, although this response may change by aging, pain, and stress. ⋯ No association between SBP and HR existed in ED patients of any age category, nor in ED patients who were hospitalized with a suspected infection, even during and after ED treatment. Emergency physicians may be misled by traditional concepts about HR disturbances because tachycardia may be absent in hypotension.