Doppler determined blood pressure recordings: the effect of varying cuff sizes in children.

Ten children ages 12 months to 14 years were studied to determine the effect of cuff size on blood pressure determined by the Doppler ultrasonic technique compared to blood pressure recordings by the auscultatory method. It was found that Doppler determined blood pressure varied with cuff size as it does with the auscultatory method. Too small a cuff will give an artificially high recording while too large a cuff causes too low a recording. The effect of the large cuff is less marked than the effect of too small a cuff.