Assessment of ankle–brachial pressure index in elderly patients as screening for lower extremity ischemia in the context of medical test method used

Abstract

Introduction:The ankle-brachial pressure index (ABI) is the ratio of the systolic blood pressure of the dorsalis pedis or posterior tibial arteries to the upper arm. The study attempted to identify factors which determine the ABI measurement results. Materials and methods: The research subject was the measurement of the ankle-brachial pressure index by means of continuous Doppler (cwD) and BOSO ABI-SYSTEM 100 apparatus (ABIs) in patients suffering from chronic venous insufficiency, lower extremity ischemia and diabetes. 100 outpatients participated in the study, which was conducted in the Chronic Injury Clinic of No. 1 Ludwik Rydygier University Hospital in Bydgoszcz between 28 th June 2016 and 6 th April 2017. Results: The average ABI value among all the examined patients was: right extremity -0.999 (cwD), 0.954 (ABIs); left extremity -0.980 (cwD), 0.945 (ABIs); with standard deviation of 32.9% (cwD) and 30.1% (ABIs) for the right extremity, and 34.2% (cwD) and 32.1% (ABIs) for the left extremity, which shows a considerable result differentiation. On average, the diabetes patients had the highest index -1.163 (cwD) for the right extremity and 1.196 (cwD) for the left extremity -while the arteriosclerosis patients had the lowest index -0.750 for the right extremity and 0.684 for the left extremity (cwD). Conclusions:The ABI values measured by continuous Doppler and BOSO ABI-SYSTEM 100 apparatus did not differ in a statistically significant way mainly in the case of the patients with chronic venous insufficiency and lower extremity arteriosclerosis. However, the values differed at the lower right and left extremities. The patients' sex, age, education and clinical analysis partly determined the ABI test results. The patients aged 61-70 and the oldest patients had the lowest ABI values.