Authors

  1. Section Editor(s): Pfeifer, Gail M. MA, RN

Article Content

Trauma teams should pay attention to single, isolated, low blood pressure readings. A systolic blood pressure measurement under 105 mmHg may signal the presence of severe injuries that often require immediate surgical repair or endovascular treatment, according to a study in the June issue of the Journal of Trauma, Injury, Infection, and Critical Care. Readings indicating hypotension are often assumed to be errors and ignored. Temple University researchers evaluated a range of low blood pressure readings in the 145 trauma patients studied to determine the best indicator of a possibly serious injury. Patients with isolated readings under 105 mmHg were about 12.4 times more likely to need "immediate therapeutic operative or endovascular procedures."