The process of taking blood pressure bilaterally is a way to screen patients for subclavian artery stenosis. Hypertension is an important, preventable contributing risk to cardiovascular disease. 80 million adults in the US have been diagnosed with hypertension. This disease is commonly seen in adults aged 60 years and older. The rationale for taking bilateral blood pressure is that if a blood pressure is checked incorrectly or in an arm that has SCA stenosis but has not been diagnosed can lead to improper management of HTN, leading to cardiovascular risk factors presenting themselves.
Many patients with SCA stenosis in the upper extremities may be asymptomatic and the symptoms may manifest themselves in a way that the only symptom is a difference in the SBP between arms. The SCA stenosis may be asymptomatic due to the fact that the circulation around the shoulder is sufficient. The flow around the area of stenosis the subclavian artery is tolerated.
SCA stenosis is defined as an SBP difference between arms of 15 mm Hg. Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) was defined as ABI 0.9. The PAD Guidelines for 2006 recommended taking blood pressure bilaterally and noting asymmetry on physical examinations. PAD Guidelines also recommended that when taking vitals to routinely include bilateral BP readings,
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Advise patients to avoid wrist cuffs as they tend to give higher BP readings than arm BP cuffs due to the smaller radius of the arteries in the
The purpose of arterial pressure and the pulse lab is to determine the effect of posture and exercise on systolic and diastolic pressure and the heart rate. And also in order to find the differences in the reading taken under these condition compares to the baseline reading. The Sphygmomanometer and stethoscope are used to measure the systolic and diastolic blood pressure, counting the beat on the radial artery will give the reading for pulse rate and by using the lab scribe software and IWX214, the blood pressure will be measured. In the heart, the aorta and the carotid arteries have baroreceptors and the chemoreceptors that identify the changes in arterial pressure and the changes in
When the pressure was measured in the left arm, it was noted to be within normal range, even as the pressure in the right arm was still very low. The team immediately discontinued the pressor order, believing that the patient’s true BP was the one from the left arm, and that the right arm reading was due to local vascular narrowing. Although giving a vasoconstriction medication to a patient with narrow blood vessels could have had catastrophic effects, no adverse outcomes were noted in this
The process of manual blood pressure and the meaning of the measurements taken, are critical in understanding how this process may differ in individuals found in different stages of their lives. Introduction Attention Grabber: “We are in danger of losing our clinical heritage and pinning too much faith in figures thrown up by machines.” - Paul Wood Reveal and Relate: I would like us all to take a second and think of this quote and the statement it is making.
The importance of manual blood pressure readings are often overlooked, even by experienced healthcare providers. Manual blood pressures closely approximate a person’s direct arterial measurements. However, there have been studies that
mouth. The BP should be taken in the nondominant arm by newly diagnosed patients in the
High blood pressure (hypertension) is a major health condition which affects many Americans. This health condition may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke. A normal blood pressure consists of systolic blood pressure divided by diastolic blood pressure, 120/80mmHg (millimeters of mercury). High blood pressure is defined as systolic pressure which is greater than 140mm Hg, and diastolic pressure which is over 90mm Hg. Hypertension influences the health outcomes of black Americans more than other races in the United States. Racial discrimination and socioeconomic status are two major factors which influence the rate of high blood pressure in the black American population.
O’Brien E, Parati G, Stergiou G, et., al. ESH Working Group on BP Monitoring. ESH position paper on ABPM. J Hypertens.2013;31:1731–1767.
The patient would need to be lying down for approximately 15-20 minutes in order to enable them to rest and have no stress or activity to affect the reading. Next, I would take their blood pressure using a Doppler and sphygmomanometer, wrapping the cuff around the upper arm/brachial artery. The cuff would be inflated until the pulse stops, when the cuff is deflated the first sound made when the blood starts to come back through is when a reading will be taken. This is the systolic reading.
K.H. is a 67-year-old African-American man with primary hypertension and diabetes mellitus. He is currently taking an angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor and following a salt-restricted weight loss diet. He is about 30 pounds over his ideal weight. At his clinic visit his blood pressure is noted to be 135/96. His heart rate is 70 beats/min. He has no complaints. His wife brought a blood pressure cuff and stethoscope with her in the hope of learning to take her husband’s blood pressure at home.
It is better to take blood pressure at an artery rather than a vein because arterial blood pressure in the larger vessels comprises of several distinct components: systolic and diastolic pressures, pulse pressure, and mean arterial pressure. The mean arterial pressure or MAP personifies the ‘average’ pressure of blood in the arteries, that is, the average force driving blood into vessels that serve the tissues. Blood pressure is predominantly taken at the brachial artery rather than other arteries such as the femoral artery because unlike the femoral artery that is in the lower extremity of the body further away from the heart the brachial artery is in the arm closest to the heart where you can receive better blood presser results.
(Marieb and Hoehn, 2010, p 703) defined Blood Pressure (BP) as ‘the force per unit area exerted on a vessel wall by the contained blood, and is expressed in millimetres of mercury (mm Hg)’. BP is still one of the essential and widely used assessment tools in healthcare settings. Nurses generally record the arterial BP which is the forced exerted blood that flows through the arteries, to establish a baseline and to determine any risk factors. BP
When taking a client’s blood pressure it is important for the clinician to have record of accurate data. Assessing blood pressure can be difficult, which is why blood pressure data tends to lack accuracy and reliability. Accuracy is the extent to which the measurement/calculation meets its correct value. When determining whether the data is reliable or not it will depend on the accuracy of it. In order to minimize error when administering blood pressure a clinician should let the client know what they are doing , although it may seem unnecessary at first it is necessary to let them know so that the client does not get startled in anyway because this can cause their blood pressure readings to be inaccurate. The position that your client is in
Accurate blood pressure measurement is a critical component of prenatal care. Hypertension during pregnancy may lead to serious health problems during pregnancy as well as after pregnancy. Some of the complication of elevated blood pressure (B/P) are eclampsia/preeclampsia, kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes (Mannisto et al., 2013, p. 687). There are factors that affect the accuracy of the B/P reading. One such interfering factor is a crossed leg at the knee at the time of the B/P measurement of a pregnant woman. Crossed leg versus uncrossed leg has been studied by the researchers. The reported results are consistent throughout the studies that crossed leg at the knee or ankle elevate both systolic and diastolic blood pressures
Discussing potential risk issues associated with using automated blood pressure/pulse machine in relation to contemporary practice.
The mercury sphygmomanometer has been “gold-standard” for measuring blood pressure since it’s invention in 1881 (Ostchega et al, 2011). However, mercury is now considered to be an environmental risk and many hospitals and clinical practices worldwide have banned the use of mercury (Myers, 2010). There are now many mercury free alternatives to the sphygmomanometer such as the aneroid sphygmomanometer, digital monitors like the x or ambulatory blood