ABC of hypertension: Blood pressure measurement

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Abstract
Methods of blood pressure measurement Most devices for measuring blood pressure are dependent on one common feature, namely, occluding the artery of an extremity (arm, wrist, finger, or leg) with an inflatable cuff to measure blood pressure either oscillometrically, or by detection of Korotkoff sounds. Other techniques, which are not dependent on limb occlusion, such as pulse-waveform analysis, can also be used, but these have little application in clinical practice. The array of techniques available today owe their origins to the conventional technique of auscultatory blood pressure measurement, and these new techniques must indeed be shown to be as accurate as the traditional mercury sphygmomanometer. Since the introduction of sphygmo- manometry, mercury and aneroid sphygmomanometers have been the most popular devices for measuring blood pressures. This article has been adapted from the newly published 4th edition of ABC of Hypertension. The book is available from the BMJ bookshop and at http://www.bmjbooks.com/ View larger version: In this window In a new window Mercury sphygmomanometer