The effect of supine and lateral positions on intra-arterial pressure in hypertensive pregnancies.
The effect of posture of blood pressure remains controversial, perhaps due to the subjective nature of indirect blood pressure measurements and the disturbing influence of environmental impulses at the time of measurement. In this study intra-arterial blood pressure was recorded directly in seven toxemic gravid women in an environment with a low impulse level. There were short-term fluctuations of up to 25 mm. systolic and 15 mm. diastolic. The effect of changes in position on blood pressure was not constant and the differences were small. The effect on blood pressure of changing the environment by talking to the subject was impressive and the difference was more than twice the largest posture-induced difference.
D001794:Blood Pressure; D001795:Blood Pressure Determination; D003142:Communication; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011187:Posture; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000503:physiopathology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011249:Pregnancy Complications, Cardiovascular / Q000503:physiopathology*