Abstract
Objective—To determine whether veterinary-specific oscillometric blood pressure units yield measurements that are in good agreement with directly measured blood pressures in cats.
Design—Evaluation study.
Animals—21 cats undergoing routine spaying or neutering.
Procedures—A 24-gauge catheter was inserted in a dorsal pedal artery, and systolic, diastolic, and mean arterial pressures were directly measured with a validated pressure measurement system. Values were compared with indirect blood pressure measurements obtained with 3 veterinary-specific oscillometric blood pressure units.
Results—There was poor agreement between indirectly and directly measured blood pressures. For unit 1, bias between indirectly and directly measured values was −14.9 mm Hg (95% limits of agreement [LOA], −52.2 to 22.4 mm Hg), 4.4 mm Hg (95% LOA, −26.0 to 34.8 mm Hg), and −1.3 mm Hg (95% LOA, −26.7 to 24.1 mm Hg) for systolic, diastolic, and mean arterial pressures, respectively. For unit 2, bias was −10.3 mm Hg (95% LOA, −52.9 to 32.2 mm Hg), 13.0 mm Hg (95% LOA, −32.1 to 58.0 mm Hg), and 9.1 mm Hg (95% LOA, −32.9 to 51.2 mm Hg) for systolic, diastolic, and mean arterial pressures, respectively. For unit 3, bias was −13.4 mm Hg (95% LOA, −51.8 to 25.1 mm Hg), 8.0 mm Hg (95% LOA, −25.5 to 41.6 mm Hg), and −3.6 mm Hg (95% LOA, −31.6 to 24.5 mm Hg) for systolic, diastolic, and mean arterial pressures, respectively.
Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Results suggested that none of the 3 veterinary-specific oscillometric blood pressure units could be recommended for indirect measurement of blood pressure in cats.
