User manual
13
Clinical References
Hypertension
Cats: Systolic pressure greater than 170-180 mmHg
Dogs: Systolic pressure greater than 180 mmHg
Hypertension in an unstressed, awake animal
Larry Tilley, DVM, DACVIM (Internal Medicine), VetMed Associates, Santa Fe, NM
Doppler in Surgery
“Doppler flow technology presents several desirable characteristics over
other monitoring devices as a surgical monitoring device. The ability of the
Doppler to measure blood flow in a peripheral artery and generate an
audible sound with each pulse provides the surgeon with an 'eyes free' way
to evaluate their patient's cardiovascular performance while continuing to
focus on their surgery. If the peripheral Doppler sound is good, the systolic
blood pressure is within an acceptable range, and with a
sphygmomanometer above the Doppler transducer, the systolic pressure
can be easily and economically measured and entered into the anesthetic
record. Although diastolic pressure cannot be measured this way, the
reliability of Doppler blood pressure monitoring allows the anesthetist to
spend less time fiddling with the monitor and more time monitoring the
patient. Heart rate can also be monitored audibly and recorded. A
particularly strong value of the Doppler is the ability of the anesthetist or
surgeon to hear ventricular premature contractions (the most common
arrhythmia under anesthesia) as a 'dropped sound' in and otherwise stable,
rhythmic 'whoosh, whoosh, whoosh'; often in plenty of time to look up at
the ECG tracing and watch the VPC go by on the screen! Supplemental
ventilation of these patients will often resolve this common arrhythmia.
Because the Doppler is portable, it can be moved with the patient easily
when moving to radiology or the recovery area. Their low cost relative to
other monitoring devices, reliability and toughness make them the best
'bang for the buck' surgical monitoring device in many people's opinion.”
Using the Doppler as a Surgical Monitor
R. Randy Bassinger, DVM, ACVS, South Carolina Veterinary Referral Center, Columbia, SC