During a patient's regular check-up, you are tasked with measuring their blood pressure. After positioning the patient's arm at heart level, you apply the cuff and begin to inflate it. How do you determine the level to which you should inflate the blood pressure cuff before listening for the Korotkoff sounds?
Inflate the cuff based on the patient's previous blood pressure reading by adding 30 mm Hg to their last systolic measurement.
Inflate the cuff until it reaches a default value of 180 mm Hg, which is generally sufficient to occlude arterial blood flow in most patients.
Inflate the cuff until the radial pulse is no longer palpable, then add an additional 20-30 mm Hg before listening for Korotkoff sounds with the stethoscope.
Inflate the cuff until the radial pulse is not felt, which indicates sufficient occlusion for an accurate blood pressure measurement.
The correct answer is to inflate the cuff to 20-30 mm Hg above the level where the radial pulse disappears. This technique is used to ensure the cuff is inflated high enough to occlude blood flow for an accurate reading, without being so high as to cause unnecessary patient discomfort or affect the measurement. Inflating only until the radial pulse is not felt might not be sufficiently high to occlude the brachial artery completely. Using a patient's previous blood pressure reading may lead to an inaccurate assessment if the patient's blood pressure has changed, and inflating to a default value of 180 mm Hg can be unnecessarily high for many patients and may cause pain or harm.
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