Abstract: Objective To study the effect of urapidil combined with phentolamine in the management of hypertension during
extracorporeal circulation. Methods Ninety patients undergoing aortic and mitral valve replacement were randomly divided
into 3 equal groups to receive treatment with phentolamine (group A), urapidil (group B), or both (group C) during
extracorporeal circulation. The mean arterial pressure (MAP) before and after drug administration, time interval of two
administrations, spontaneous recovery of heart beat after aorta unclamping, ventricular arrhythmia, changes of ST-segment 1
min after the recovery of heart beat, ante-parallel cycle time, aorta clamping time, post-parallel cycle time, dopamine dose after
cardiac resuscitation, and perioperative changes of plasma TNF-α and IL-6 levels were recorded. Results There was no
significant difference in MAP between the 3 groups before or after hypotensive drug administration (P>0.05). The time interval
of two hypotensive drug administrations was longer in group C than in groups A and B (P<0.05). The incidence of spontaneous
recovery of heart beat after aorta unclamping, incidence of ventricular arrhythmia, changes of ST-segment 1 min after the
recovery of heart beat, ante-parallel cycle time, aorta clamping time, and post-parallel cycle time were all comparable between
the 3 groups. The dose of dopamine administered after cardiac resuscitation was significantly larger in group B than in groups
A or group C (P<0.05). The plasma levels of TNF-α and IL-6 were significantly increased after CPB and after the operation in
all the groups, but were lowed in group C than in groups A and B at the end of CPB and at 2 h and 12 after the operation.
Conclusion Urapidil combined with phentolamine can control hypertension during extracorporeal circulation without causing
hypotension.