SUPRAORBITAL ARTERY AS AN ALTERNATIVE SITE FOR OSCILLOMETRIC BLOOD-PRESSURE MEASUREMENT

Objective. Noninvasive blood pressure measured from the superficial te mporal artery has been shown to correlate well with pressure in the br achial artery The supraorbital artery may be an even better site for m onitoring blood pressure on the forehead because it originates from th e internal carotid artery, and it is easier to locate anatomically. Th is study compares mean pressure measured oscillometrically over the su praorbital artery and at the upper arm. Methods. Oscillometric signals from the supraorbital artery were recorded in 20 surgical patients un der general anesthesia using a 2.5- x l-cm bladder attached to the for ehead with a self-adhesive pad. Blood pressure was measured simultaneo usly from the arm using a Dinamap 1846 blood pressure monitor, and the resulting data compared with the supraorbital artery measurements. Re sults. The mean difference between 219 pairs of blood pressure measure ments, from the forehead and the arm, was 3.8 mm Hg. The standard devi ation of the differences was 7.4 mm Hg. The linear regression equation for the data was y = 0.98x + 3.25, with a standard error of estimate of 7.31 mm Hg. The correlation coefficient between the two measurement s was 0.82. Conclusions. The results show that mean blood pressures me asured oscillometrically from the supraorbital and brachial arteries a gree and correlate well with each other. The supraorbital artery shoul d be a good alternative site for blood pressure measurement.