Abi Nursing

Ankle- Brachial Index (ABI)

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Ankle- Brachial Index (ABI)

An Ankle-Brachial Index (ABI) is a test that is done on a person who is completely relaxed in a quiet and peaceful room and preferably a person who is resting. Blood pressure is measured at the ankle and at the arm. In other instances, the ABI test could be done when the patient is from doing some kind of exercise, e.g. walking, running, dancing or a vigorous activity. Blood pressure is measured again when the patient is from doing the exercise; this is called an exercise test (Rakesh, 2014). Results of an Ankle-Brachial Index test are used to determine how severe the Peripheral arterial disorder (PAD) is in the patient (Thomas, 2010).

The results that should be looked for is if there is a drop in the Ankle- Brachial Index (ABI). The possibility of a drop with the exercise involved in the test is a general meaning that there are chances of a probable PAD, the realization of such a probability is important. This is because the individual will be able to take better care of them to avoid a heart attack or even a stroke. Peripheral Arterial Disorder (PAD) is an early sign of weakness that could be attached to a risk of getting a stroke or a heart attack (Naghavi, 2010).

Findings are classified as either normal or abnormal. A normal ankle- brachial index lies at a range of 1.0 to 1.4. This range shows that the pressure at the ankles and the pressure recorded at the arm are either the same. Alternatively, the pressure at the ankle is greater than the pressure at the arm (Naghavi, 2010).This finding means that blood flow in the body is normal and therefore there is no narrowing of veins or blockage that would lead to irregular flow of blood. With normal ABI, there is little risk of PAD that would register a risk of stroke. Abnormal ABI values for a resting person are value below 0.9 or lower than that, or 1.40 or higher that the value. These values are abnormal because they are...