What is Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring (ABPM)?
An Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitor (ABPM) is a small device that is worn for 24 hours. The device periodically measures, records and analyses blood pressure.
How is ABPM performed?
The ABPM device measures and records the blood pressure at regular intervals over 24 hours and provides the physician with a graph of how the blood pressure varies throughout the day. This information is often useful in the management of patients with hypertension.
ABPM: BP cuff on the arm and recorder attached to the waist
24-hour ABPM Graph/Report
What are the common indications for ABPM?
- To determine whether patients have hypertension when there are discrepancies in the readings or borderline hypertension readings.
- To assess how hypertensive patients respond to therapy.
- To distinguish patients with “white coat hypertension” from true hypertensive patients.
- To determine whether dizzy spells are due to hypotension (low blood pressure).
