Page 17 - Blood Pressure in Dogs and Cats - Johnsonvet.com

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FIGURE 7. Patient with coccygeal arterial catheter; note that arterial FIGURE 8. Close-up image of coccygeal arterial
catheters should not be maintained in cats for longer than 6 to 12 hours catheter in a cat.
owing to risk for arterial thrombosis.

in the fl uid bag greater than the patient’s systolic
pressure, which prevents back fl ow of arterial TABLE 3.
blood into the monitoring system. 1,2 Required Supplies for DABP Measurement
5. The fl uid bag tubing connects to a pressure • Arterial catheter
transducer, which is connected by a cable to the • T-set primed with heparinized saline
• DABP transducer system primed with heparinized saline
physiologic monitor, mounted on a board placed • Transducer cable
at the level of the patient’s heart. At the other • Physiologic monitor that displays DABP wave form and numeric values for SAP,
DAP, and MAP
end of the transducer, semi-rigid tubing connects • 250-mL bag of heparinized saline (1 U heparin/1 mL 0.9% sodium chloride)
to the arterial catheter’s T-set. • Pressure bag
6. Once the pressure transducer is connected to the • Board for stabilization of the transducer
monitor, zero it at the level of the patient’s right prevent access to arterial catheters.
atrium. Once zeroed, the pressure transducer • Do NOT maintain arterial catheters in cats for
converts the pressure changes in the artery to an longer than 6 to 12 hours owing to increased
1
electrical signal that is displayed on the monitor risk for arterial thrombosis.
as a pressure wave form; numeric values for SAP, Learn More
MAP, and DAP are also displayed. Preventing Inaccurate Results
1
7. Flush the DABP monitoring system with heparinized Although DABP is considered the gold standard in Visit TVPjournal.com
and select Resources
saline before connecting it to the patient. blood pressure monitoring, a number of situations to read Blood
8. Supervise patients with arterial catheters at all can cause erroneous readings, which can be Pressure Monitoring:
times and carefully care for the catheter: prevented by: The Nursing
• Clearly label the catheter, allowing easy • Using only semi-rigid tubing to connect the Thought Process,
which outlines the 5
identification as arterial rather than venous pressure transducer to the patient—the use of steps of the nursing
and, thereby, alerting personnel NOT to compliant tubing results in excessive damping of process and how they
administer medications through the catheter. the pressure wave, causing inaccurate readings help the veterinary
• Rewrap the catheter, at a minimum, once • Ensuring air bubbles are not present in the system team prioritize,
troubleshoot, and
daily; rewrap soiled catheters promptly. • Checking the semi-rigid tubing for kinks solve issues related
• While the catheter is unwrapped, evaluate the • Making sure the pressure bag is inflated to at to blood pressure
insertion site for redness, warmth, swelling, least 250 mm Hg measurement and
pain, or discharge; remove catheters that are • Reassessing the transducer level; if the monitoring before
painful or oozing from the insertion site. transducer is displaced, replace it to they become an
emergency.
• Document when the catheter is rewrapped approximately the level of the right atrium and
and note the appearance of the insertion site zero to the patient
in the medical record. • Ensuring that the arterial catheter is patent;
• Consider putting an E-collar on patients to fl ush the arterial catheter if needed.

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