Taking a Manual Blood Pressure: Techniques & Pitfalls

Follow the steps below in order to get the best results from use of the aneroid sphygmomanometer when measuring a patient’s blood pressure, taking care to avoid some common errors.
1. Properly expose the patient.
The blood pressure should be measured during the secondary examination, which begins with exposing the patient. This will ensure that the cuff is placed on the skin. The blood pressure cuff should never be placed over clothing, as doing so will increase pressure on the cuff and produce an inaccurate reading.
2. Properly position the patient.
The patient should be seated comfortably, with the legs uncrossed. The artery used to measure the blood pressure should be close to the level of the heart, with the arm supported.
3. Select the appropriate cuff.
A cuff should be selected that’s able to completely encircle the patient’s upper arm with 80% of the cuff. If it takes more than 80% of the cuff to encircle the upper arm, the cuff is too small for the patient, and will produce a reading that’s higher than accurate. If it takes less than 80% of the cuff to encircle the upper arm, the cuff is too large, and will produce a reading that’s lower than accurate.
4. Palpate the artery.
With the arm fully extended, feel for the pulsation of the brachial artery. Failure to fully extend the arm will result in difficulty both in locating the artery and in auscultating Korotkoff sounds. In most people, the pulse can be felt at the medial aspect of the antecubital fossa, whe...

Source: JEMS Patient Care - October 24, 2018 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Mark Rock, NRP Tags: Exclusive Articles Cardiac & Resuscitation Source Type: news