A patient who is normally on blood pressure medication has stopped taking their medicine before having surgery. While in the hospital, they develop a hypertensive emergency, requiring intravenous medication to bring their blood pressure down. Which of the following is a potential complication associated with a hypertensive emergency?

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A potential complication associated with a hypertensive emergency is a stroke. This occurs when the patient's blood pressure increases to such high levels that one of the small vessels in the brain ruptures. This results in bleeding into the brain, causing memory loss, confusion, and paralysis. The perioperative nurse must respond rapidly to a hypertensive emergency to avoid life-threatening complications.

A Patient Who Is Normally on Blood Pressure Medication Has