Level of Agreement Between Forearm and Upper Arm Blood Pressure Measurements in Patients With Large Arm Circumference.

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to determine if forearm blood pressures (BPs) measured in three different locations agree with the recommended upper arm location for noninvasive BP measurement.

Design: A method-comparison design was used.

Methods: In a convenience sample of postanesthesia care unit patients with large upper arm circumference, BP's were obtained in three different forearm locations (lower forearm, middle forearm, and upper forearm) and compared to upper arm BP using an automated BP measuring device.

Postanesthesia patients with large upper arm circumference: is use of an "extra-long" adult cuff or forearm cuff placement accurate?

The purpose of this study was to determine if blood pressure (BP) measured in the forearm or with an extra-long BP cuff in the upper arm accurately reflects BP measured in the upper arm with an appropriately sized BP cuff in patients with large upper arm circumference. A method-comparison design was used with a convenience sample of 49 PACU patients. Noninvasive blood pressures were obtained in two different locations (forearm; upper arm) and in the upper arm with an extra-long adult and recommended large adult cuff sizes.