Efficacy of frequent blood pressure and heart rate monitoring for early identification of bleeding following percutaneous coronary intervention.

Monitoring of patients' vital signs is an important component of postpercutaneous coronary intervention (post-PCI) for bleeding early detection. This study was performed in order to identify the efficacy of frequent blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) monitoring for early identification of bleeding following PCI. The descriptive study was conducted at the cardiology unit of a university hospital with a study sample of 1292 patients. Data collection instruments were designed by the authors. In a comparison of the presence of abnormal BP-HR between the groups with and without bleeding, the difference was not significant on arrival and not at 15, 45 and 60 min posttransfer. There is no association between the frequent vital sign measurement in the first hour and early diagnosis of bleeding. The frequency of follow up after PCI should be based on the patient's condition, the nurse's clinical expertise and the institutional protocols.