A comparison of differential oscillometric device with invasive mean arterial blood pressure monitoring in intensive care patients.

Non-invasive beat-to-beat mean arterial pressure (MAP) in finger arteries recorded by the differential oscillometric device was compared with MAP recorded invasively from A. radialis in 22 patients after cardiac surgery. Based on all 132 paired measurements, the MAP values measured at the radial artery were 2.7 ± 4.9 mmHg higher than those measured on fingers. Among 22 patients there were 8 patients receiving inotropic support, their difference being 2.1 ± 5.6 mmHg. The present study revealed that the mean discrepancy between the invasive radial pressure and finger pressure was small; however, patient data sets showed marked variability in average pressure differences when examined individually.