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Blood pressure measurement in volunteers with and without padding between the cuff and the skin
Author(s) -
Archer L. J.,
Smith A. J.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
anaesthesia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.839
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1365-2044
pISSN - 0003-2409
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2044.2001.02180.x
Subject(s) - padding , medicine , blood pressure , cuff , anesthesia , surgery , statistics , mathematics
Automated non‐invasive arterial blood pressure measurements are made frequently during anaesthesia. Conscious patients often find the measurement uncomfortable. The tissues under the cuff can suffer trauma such as skin creasing, blistering, petechial haemorrhages and even nerve damage. We placed soft padding between the blood pressure measurement cuff and the skin of the upper arm of 140 healthy volunteers, and compared cuff‐related skin trauma and arterial blood pressure measurements with and without the padding. Padding was associated with a significant reduction in the frequency and intensity of skin trauma (p < 0.0001). There was no significant overall effect of the presence of padding on arterial blood pressure readings. We conclude that the benefit of padding outweighs any compromise to the reliability of arterial blood pressure measurement.