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mwaso
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so, when measuring blood pressure, if you use a cuff that's too large for the patient, you get an incorrectly low reading. This doesn't make sense to me. why?
hypatia said:A large cuff doesn't apply enough pressure to compress the artery, with smaller arm size.
Moonbear said:Actually, it's the opposite. The large cuff doesn't need to be inflated as much to compress the artery on a smaller arm, so gives an erroneously low reading. Likewise, if a cuff is too small, it will have to be overinflated to get it to compress the artery adequately, so will give an erroneously high reading.
With the smallest bladder (13 ´ 23 cm) the highest systolic and diastolic BP was measured (mean SBP 127.2 mean DBP 77.0 mm Hg), followed by the bladder of 13 ´ 36 cm (125.1 resp. 75.4 mm Hg). The lowest BP was measured with the bladder of 16 ´ 23 cm (123.7 resp. 74.4 mm Hg).
berkeman said:An interesting point made by some studies is that hypertension may be misdiagnosed in a number of obese patients for this reason. The variation with cuff size seems to be more pronounced with obese patients as well.
Blood pressure is the force of blood against the walls of your arteries. It is an essential measure of your overall health and can indicate potential issues with your heart and blood vessels.
Blood pressure is typically measured using a sphygmomanometer, which consists of a cuff, a pressure-measuring device, and a stethoscope. The cuff is placed around the upper arm and inflated, then slowly deflated while listening for the sound of blood pulsing through the artery.
If the cuff size is too small, it can result in an artificially high blood pressure reading. If the cuff size is too large, it can result in an artificially low reading. In both cases, the incorrect cuff size can lead to misdiagnosis and improper treatment.
The correct cuff size should cover approximately 80% of your upper arm. The cuff should fit snugly but not too tight. You should be able to fit two fingers between the cuff and your arm. If the cuff is too small, it will be difficult to wrap around your arm, and if it is too large, it will be too loose.
Using the wrong cuff size can result in inaccurate blood pressure readings, which can lead to unnecessary treatment or failure to treat a potentially serious condition. It is essential to use the correct cuff size for accurate and reliable blood pressure measurements.