When measuring blood pressure the inflatable cuff is always wrapped around the upper arm. Why?

wgipps

My wife is a paramedic and she tells me that there may be several reasons - 1 is that your extremities may be shut down, and that the artery in the upper part of the arm is larger than the lower part. Also you are trying to get the most accurate reading so the closer to the heart the measurement is taken the more accurate the reading. Nov 18 02, 7:26 AM

Kainantu

Back in the 19th century, researchers made a simple but vital discovery. If you wrap an inflatable band round a person's upper arm and then pump it up, there will come a point when it stops the blood flowing through the arteries. And at that moment, the pressure in the inflatable 'cuff' is same as the pressure in the arteries. http://www.retirement-matters.co.uk/gparchive/bloodpressure.htm The upper arm is exactly at the level of the heart. Hence the blood pressure in the upper arm artery is practically equal to the pressure exerted by the left ventricle during its contraction. If the blood pressure were measured around, say the ankle, the reading obtained would be a sum of the pressure due to contraction of the ventricle and the hydrostatic pressure of the column of blood extending from the ankle to the heart. The latter figure would vary depending on the person%B4s height, making it impossible to compare blood pressure readings with their ideal values. http://www.sec.org.za/physics/pkpbr_l+g.html Nov 18 02, 7:51 AM