Abstract
A new automatic system of sphygmomanometer based on the oscillometric method has been developed for animals, and the usefulness of this instrument (BP100D, Fukuda M.E. Kogyo Co., Ltd.) was evaluated in this study. Four beagles (average age 5.8 years old, average body weight 9.2 kg) were used for this experiment. The systolic, mean and diastolic blood pressures were measured by indirect method using this instrument and were compared to those measured by direct method (catheterized carotid artery) in unanesthetized dogs. A significantly high correlation (p<0.01) was obtained between the direct (actual) and indirect (oscillometric) blood pressure measurements. The systolic blood pressure showed the highest correlation coefficient (r=0.908), followed by those of the mean and diastolic blood pressures (0.853 and 0.800, respectively). Little variability was observed in repeated measurements of five times by four persons using this instrument. These results proved that this instrument was suitable for routine measurement of blood pressure in the unanesthetized dogs.
