Following a hypertensive crisis, a client's family asks, "Why are the client's eyes so bloodshot?" The nurse responds that high arterial pressure:

Question

A) From straining to have a bowel movement can rupture small vessels in the eyes
B) Damages more fragile blood vessels like those in the eyes to the point of rupture
C) Can interfere with clotting factor production, so clients bleed more easily
D) Cause heart muscle to pump stronger, sending too much blood to small vessels in the eyes

Answer 1

Ans: B
Feedback:
Excessively high arterial pressure and tissue perfusion can be dangerous because they may damage the more fragile blood vessels (like those inside the eyes). The myogenic control mechanisms rely on stretch of the vascular smooth muscle in the vessel wall. Therefore, it has been proposed that when the arterial pressure stretches the vessel, this in turn causes reactive vascular constriction that reduces the blood flow nearly back to normal.