Arterial/Venous Pressure Readings

[PrimeTimer]

Are the arterial and venous pressure readings the same on the big machines at centers as the readings on the NxStage cycler? For example, if a person's arterial pressure is 140 on the NxStage cycler, will it also reflect as 140 on the big machines Fresenius uses? And do centers monitor or record the readings?

[Simon Dog]

In my experience, they Arterial and Venous pressure read about the same.   TMP (Trans membrane pressure) measured in center reads quite differently from the effluent pressure on NxStage.

I know the staff monitors readings and think they record them.  When I had a Baby-K at home I was required to log the pressures every 30 minutes and report them to the home care RN.

[PrimeTimer]

Thanks Simon Dog. I was wondering because one way we could tell when stenosis was occurring was seeing a higher arterial pressure. We can still feel the bruit but notice some pulsating and that's what prompted me to ask him about his pressures. He can't see them from the treatment chair like he was able to at home so he's going to ask them what his pressures are and to tell the neph it's time for an appt with the vascular guy (and probably another angioplasty). It's the balloon jobs that have been keeping his fistula alive so he doesn't mind going in and the neph applauds us for staying on-top of the warning signs.   

[Simon Dog]

Ask the clinic staff to turn the machine so the patient can see the screen.







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[PrimeTimer]

They showed my husband his AVF pressures during treatment today. (thanks for the tip Simon Dog). The machine was not alarming but the pressures were at 190 for both the arterial and venous, which is high for him. His neph is making him an appt with the vascular man ASAP (hopefully that means this week). It's been 5 mos since his last balloon so this isn't surprising. Better often than not...