Indirect BP monitoring in the newborn. Evaluation of a new oscillometer and comparison of upper- and lower-limb measurements
M. D. Baker, M. J. Maisels and K. H. Marks
We compared simultaneous direct (aortic) and indirect (oscillometric) BP
measurements in 19 patients admitted to a newborn intensive care unit. Two
hundred six indirect measurements were obtained from an upper extremity in
14 patients, and 50 from a lower extremity in five other patients. A
regression analysis of paired data over a wide range of BPs showed
excellent correlation between measurements obtained with the automated
oscillometer and intra-arterial catheters. The oscillometric BP correlated
equally well in both upper and lower extremities. Simultaneous upper- and
lower-extremity BP measurements were taken in seven infants with low birth
weights during the first 12 days of life and in ten normal term 2-to
5-day-old infants. Contrary to some previous reports, systolic, mean, and
diastolic pressures were virtually identical at both sites.
