Do oral decongestants have a clinically significant effect on BP in patients with hypertension?

Abstract

Q: Do oral decongestants have a clinically significant effect on BP in patients with hypertension? Evidence-based answer: It is unclear. Pseudoephedrine causes an average increase of 1.2 mm Hg in systolic blood pressure (BP) in patients with controlled hypertension. However, the studies are not adequately powered to provide evidence about whether this rise in systolic BP is linked to patient-oriented outcomes (strength of recommendation [SOR]: C, multiple randomized controlled trials [RCTs] supporting disease-oriented evidence). Significant variations in BP are defined differently among studies (TABLE1-7). In addition, we do not have data on chronic use of oral decongestants; the longest time on medication in these trials was 4 weeks.