The 2020 Taiwan Stroke Society guidelines for blood pressure control at the acute stage of ischemic stroke

Abstract

The 2020 Taiwan Stroke Society (TSS) guidelines for blood pressure (BP) control related to ischemic stroke update the 2015 TSS BP guidelines. The early management of acute ischemic stroke has evolved rapidly in the previous two decades. Since the publication of the previous version of the TSS BP guidelines, many studies have addressed BP management in ischemic stroke. Particularly, several successful endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) trials published in 2015 led to a new era of acute treatment for ischemic stroke. With the ever-increasing use of EVT, evidence-based guidelines for ideal BP management during and after EVT are urgently needed. Consequently, the 2020 guidelines are updating and providing recommendations on BP control for the treatment and prevention of ischemic stroke based on new evidence. The present study encompasses the most important chapter of the 2020 Taiwan BP guidelines: BP control at the acute stage of ischemic stroke. We incorporated the most updated evidence regarding BP control at the acute stage of ischemic stroke in patients receiving or not receiving acute reperfusion therapy and provided specific recommendations for different treatment subgroups accordingly.