Table 3

Some of the drugs used in reducing hypertension in management of autonomic dysreflexia, classified according to their major site of action on the reflex arc and target organs

*Clonidine and reserpine have multiple effects, some of which are peripheral.
Adapted from Mathias CJ, Frankel HL. Autonomic disturbances in spinal cord lesions. In: Mathias CJ, Bannister R, eds. Autonomic failure: a textbook of clinical disorders of the autonomic nervous system, 4th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002:494–513.
▸AfferentTopical lignocaine
▸Spinal cordClonidine*
Reserpine*
Spinal anaesthetics
▸EfferentSympathetic gangliaHexamethonium
Sympathetic nerve terminalsGuanethidine
α AdrenoceptorsPhenoxybenzamine
▸Target organsBlood vesselsGlyceryl trinitrate
Nifedipine