Errors in the arterial blood pressure measurement.

ntroduction The artefacts affecting arterial wave morphology may compromise recorded values of arterial blood pressure (ABP) and can lead to therapeutic errors. The aim of this study is to evaluate the errors between invasive and noninvasive arterial pressure values, the incidence of artefacts due to an inadequate dynamic response of the transducer-tubing system, and their detection by the ICU staff. Methods Seventy-five consecutive patients (50 male, mean age 55 ± 18) admitted to the ICU for heterogeneous pathologies were enrolled. Inclusion criteria were: the presence of an intra-arterial catheter (IAC) for invasive blood pressure monitoring, and age >18 years. Pregnancy was excluded. At admission and every time the IAC was replaced we acquired invasive systolic, diastolic, and medium arterial pressure values (I-SP, I-DP, I-MP) during hemodynamic stability (variations of mean arterial pressure