[1][2] This contrasts with a hypertensive emergency where severely high blood pressure is accompanied by evidence of progressive organ or system damage.
[1] Hypertensive urgency is defined as severely high blood pressure with no evidence of end organ damage.
[3][6] In a hypertensive urgency blood pressure should be lowered carefully to ≤160/≤100 mmHg over a period of hours to days,[1] this can often be done as an outpatient.
[7] Recommended medications for hypertensive urgencies include: captopril, labetalol, amlodipine, felodipine, isradipine, and prazosin.
Retrospective analysis of data from 1,290,804 adults admitted to hospital emergency departments in United States from 2005 through 2007 found that severe hypertension with a systolic blood pressure ≥180 mmHg occurred in 13.8% of patients.