1
Blood Pressure Measurement in Animals
Measuring accurate blood pressure (BP) on animals is not trivial, (it
is much more difficult than in humans) and lots of experience and
attention to every detail is important: limb selection, proper cuff size,
snug fit of the cuff, position of animal so that no weight or pressure is
on the measurement limb or cuff, a relaxed and still animal (let the
owner hold it in a comfortable position), an experienced and VERY
PATIENT measurement person and possibly a patient assistant as
well. And, multiple BP measurements MUST be made during the
BP measurement session.
Experts in the field of animal BP measurement stress the important
elements of the blood pressure determination process are the skill,
experience, and patience of the person measuring BP. The most
important element taught is the patience of the person measuring the
BP and their rapport with the animal.
Instructors teach that readings on at least 25-50 animals should be
completed before practitioners consider themselves experienced and
skilled in taking BP. The measurement process is an art, a skill, and
a science all in one . . . when done well.
The best way to learn to use the petMAP is to practice taking
readings on your finger. This will allow you to get comfortable with
the device prior to using it on patients. Even after practice, it may
take 10 - 25 minutes to get the 4-8 good readings (minimal animal
motion during the reading and the determination completed in
under 45-60 seconds) needed to accurately assess the animal’s BP.
The use of petMAP’s unique “Nominal Session BP Value”
(NSV) is recommended as the charted BP for the session since it
eliminates “outliers” which can distort an ordinary average of the BP
values and hence is a more robust measure of the animal’s true
pressure during the session.
Remember that research has shown that if an animal is upset
or agitated due to handling or due to the measurement procedure
itself, it will take 8-10 minutes, after the animal is calmed and
relaxed, for the animal’s blood pressure to return to normal.
Measurements on an agitated animal are not an indication of their
normal BP and are usually worthless clinically when diagnosing a
hypertensive animal.
Manual Copyright © 2005-2009 by Ramsey Medical, Inc. All rights reserved. No part
of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means,
without the prior written permission of Ramsey Medical, Inc.
