Even if the surgery is straightforward, there is always the possibility of complications. One of these dangers is a change in blood pressure.
High blood pressure can occur after surgery for a variety of reasons. Whether or not you develop this consequence is determined by the sort of surgery you are having, the type of anesthesia and drugs used, and whether or not you have previously experienced blood pressure problems.
Understanding Blood Pressure and Post-operative Hypotension
Two numbers are used to calculate blood pressure. Systolic pressure is the highest figure. It depicts the pressure that your heart experiences while beating and pumping blood. The number at the bottom is the diastolic pressure. This value represents the pressure in your heart while it is at rest between beats. The numbers will be shown as 120/80 mmHg (millimeters of mercury), for example.
Normal, raised, and high blood pressure ranges, according to the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the American Heart Association (AHA):
- Normal values are less than 120 systolic and 80 diastolic.
- Elevated: 120-129 systolic and less than 80 diastolic
- High: systolic or diastolic blood pressure of 130 or higher 80 years old or older
Simply put, hypotension is defined as a systolic pressure less than 90 mm Hg in a previously normotensive patient or a systolic pressure greater than 40 mm Hg in a previously normotensive patient.
The Need for Continuous Blood Pressure Monitoring
Blood pressure monitoring is an important part of assessing general health as well as most diseases and disorders. It further facilitates the diagnosis and evaluation of high blood pressure (hypertension) and related diseases such as preeclampsia or pregnancy-induced hypertension.
According to the current procedure, vital signs are taken every 15 minutes for 1 hour, every 30 minutes for 2 hours, and then every 4 hours for 24 hours for post-operative patients admitted to medical-surgical/telemetry units from post-anesthesia care units. A study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology looked at the frequency and duration of vital signs needed to detect a departure of more than 20% from the patient's baseline in order to ensure safe postoperative surveillance of patients.
A 20% variation from their baseline vital signs was observed in 65% of the total individuals evaluated. Blood pressures accounted for 50% of the variances, whereas heart rates accounted for 45%. A total of 27% of the deviations happened 4-8 hours after admission, 13% happened 8-12 hours after admission, 9% happened 1.5 hours after admission and 7% happened 12-16 hours after admission.
Based on these findings, the ideal periods to take post-operative vitals are: every 15 minutes for 30 minutes upon admission, 1.5 hours after admission, 4 hours after admission, and then every 4 hours for 20 hours.
That's still a lot of time regardless of intervals, by integrating continuous blood pressure monitors, we can hope to maximize clinical workflow, and improve early detection, patient safety, and outcomes.
ViSi Mobile Continuous Blood Pressure Monitoring Features
The ViSi Mobile System is intended to continually monitor all vital signs not just blood pressure. Which also connects patients with their doctors, wirelessly allowing for more personalized and timely care. The system, which is generally seen in Intensive Care Units, allows for continuous monitoring of all vital signs with accuracy and resolution (ICUs). Measuring all vital signs on a single system.
Traditional techniques of calculating blood pressure using Pulse Arrival Time have obvious drawbacks. The ViSi Mobile System was created with these limitations in mind.
- Accelerometers are utilized to correct errors associated with hydrostatic pressure changes as well as the pre-ejection period.
- A patient’s unique cardiovascular profile is measured via the calibration step
- Time-synced sensors create a reliable correlation between Pulse Arrival Time and blood pressure
- The user is notified if significant changes in mean arterial pressure are detected
This device has been tested in the general ward, emergency, and ICU hospital settings, and is FDA-approved.
