While caring for the person with a spinal cord injury (SCI), the nurse elevates the head of the bed, removes TED stockings and continues to assess vital signs every 2-3 minutes, while searching for the cause in order to prevent loss of consciousness or death. By practicing these interventions, the nurse is avoiding the most dangerous complication of autonomic dysreflexia, which is:

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The most dangerous complication of autonomic dysreflexia is elevated blood pressure. The nurse's interventions of elevating the head of the bed, removing TED stockings, and monitoring vital signs every 2-3 minutes are aimed at identifying and addressing the cause of autonomic dysreflexia to prevent this dangerous elevation in blood pressure. Tachycardia, peripheral vascular shutdown, and bradypnoea are all potential complications of autonomic dysreflexia but are not the most dangerous.

While Caring for the Person with a Spinal Cord Injury