Measurement of blood pressure in all toes in arterial occlusive disease of the leg

Abstract

In the present study, systolic blood pressure in all toes was measured by using a bladder-free cuff in 20 normal limbs and 106 limbs with arterial occlusive disease, and the clinical significance of blood pressure measurement in all toes was studied. In 97 of 106 limbs with arterial occlusion, all 5 toes showed a significantly decreased blood pressure, indicating that any toe can be used for the purpose of diagnosis of arterial occlusions. However, 41% of cases showed the difference in blood pressure of more than 15 mm Hg between any 2 toes. Great variations of blood pressure among 5 toes were observed especially in limbs with gangrene or with other skin ischemic symptoms such as cold sensitivity, numbness, or history of gangrene in the toes. In these cases, evaluation of hemodynamics in each toe is considered to be of use for prognostic study of gangrene, selection and evaluation of treatments, and follow-up study. In limbs with intermittent claudication, however, blood pressure measurement in all toes may have little value in clinical practice because of small variation among blood pressure values of 5 toes. In comparison of blood pressure values in each toe from limbs with gangrene, toes with gangrene showed a significantly lower blood pressure than toes without gangrene. However, even in these toes without gangrene, a significantly lower blood pressure was observed than in toes from limbs without gangrene. These findings indicate that severe damage to digital circulation due to an occlusive process proximal to the toes is a primarily indispensable condition for development of gangrene in arterial occlusive disease.