Answer 1 Length, 80%; width, 40%. A cuff bladder that is too small will cause an overestimation of systolic and diastolic blood pressures, and a cuff bladder that is too large will cause these pressures to be underestimated. For an adult patient, the optimal length of the cuff bladder is 80% of the circumference of the patient’s arm, and the optimal width of the cuff bladder is 40% of the arm’s circumference. Click here to return to the questions
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