What is a common treatment for hypertension in type B aortic dissection?

In the management of type B aortic dissection, blood pressure control is a crucial aspect of treatment. This condition involves a tear in the aorta that can lead to serious complications, making it essential to manage hypertension effectively to prevent further strain on the vessel wall and decrease the risk of complications such as propagation of the dissection or rupture.

Controlling blood pressure helps stabilize the patient's condition, allowing time for either medical management or surgical intervention if indicated. The goals are to reduce the systolic blood pressure to below 120 mmHg and to lower the heart rate to reduce the shear stress on the aortic wall. Medications such as beta-blockers and other antihypertensives are primarily used for this purpose because they effectively decrease both blood pressure and heart rate.

While surgical intervention is an option for complicated cases or in the presence of complications, it is more common practice to manage stable type B dissections with medical therapy focusing on blood pressure control first. Other treatments, such as anticoagulation therapy and analgesics, may be part of comprehensive care but do not address the critical need to manage hypertension in the context of a type B dissection.