Post Anesthesia Patients With Large Upper Arm Circumference: Is Use of an “Extra-Long” Adult Cuff or Forearm Cuff Placement Accurate?

Abstract

National guidelines for blood pressure (BP) measurement recommend use of the upper arm for BP cuff placement. Clinicians sometimes use the forearm location for placement of the BP cuff in patients with large arm circumferences when the correct BP cuff size for upper arm BP is not available. The purpose of this study was to determine if blood pressures obtained 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.