Abstract
Single-stage treadmill exercise testing (7° inclination, at 50 m/min for 5 min) was performed in 143 hospitalized patients (aged 32-90 years, mean 64 years ; 78 males and 65 females) who required non-cardiopulmonary operations. Systolic blood pressure was recorded at rest and every 1 min during and immediately after exercise, together with pulse rate and ECG recordings. There was no difference in the systolic blood pressure response to exercise between the male and female patients aged 50 to 69 years, although the increase in pulse rate during exercise was greater in the female patients. Comparing the male patients aged 70 years or more with those aged less than 70 years, the increase in systolic blood pressure during and immediately after exercise was greater in the former than in the latter. Hypertensive patients showed a more exaggerated systolic blood pressure response to exercise than the normotensive patients, although the difference in systolic blood pressure at rest between the two groups was slight on the day of the exercise testing. The incidence of hypertensive episodes after surgery was significantly higher in patients whose systolic blood pressure during exercise had been more than 200mrHg (4/26) than in patients whose systolic blood pressure during exercise had been below 170 mmHg (0/41) . These results indicate that measurement of blood pressure during exercise testing is a useful means of predicting the blood pressure response under stress states in surgical patients.
