OMRON Small Cuff original accessory (17 - 22 cm) 9515373-3 for OMRON Upper Arm Blood Pressure Monitors

Product Information

Most children should be physically active for at least 30 minutes a day. Encourage your child to get involved with sports and other activities where they are moving around. Systolic pressure is the first or top number in the measurement. It represents the artery pressure when your heart beats.

Blood pressure is one measure of heart health. It measures the force of blood pushing against the inner walls of the arteries as your heart pumps. A very fast heart rate can signal heart rhythm problems. If your child’s heart rate is too fast to count, that’s a sign to seek medical care. In young children, this may require admission to day unit, such as Ward 1C, for serial measurements to be taken over several hours.

Types of Blood Pressure Monitors

Just like heart rate, respiratory rate can go up and down a bit throughout the day, depending on what your child is doing. Temporary changes outside the normal ranges are fine. And just like with adults, it’s also normal for children to breathe more slowly while they’re sleeping. Limit screen time. To encourage your child to be more active, limit time in front of the television, computer or other devices. If primary hypertension is suspected, plot height, weight, and BMI. In such instances, lifestyle modification should be implemented before referral to nephrology.

Table 4 – Contraindications and side effects for common classes of antihypertensive medications (13). This list is not exhaustive and the BNFC should always be consulted for dosing information, and more detailed side effect profiles. First-line therapies are in the yellow boxes, and adjunct agents in orange. Guzman-Limon M, et al. Pediatric hypertension: Diagnosis, evaluation, and treatment. Pediatric Clinics of America. 2019; doi:10.1016/j.pcl.2018.09.001. Limit processed foods, which are often high in sodium, and limit eating at fast-food restaurants, whose menu items are full of salt, fat and calories. For manual instruments, a stethoscope or Doppler is used to listen to the pulse and the readings are taken from the pressure gauge. The systolic number (or top number) is recorded when the pulse is first heard. The diastolic number is recorded when the pulse is no longer heard. The Doppler can only detect the systolic pressure.Flynn JT, et al. Clinical practice guideline for screening and management of high blood pressure in children and adolescents. Pediatrics. 2017;140(3). This monitor will automatically measure your child’s blood pressure every half hour during the day, and every hour during the night while they are sleeping. Your child will need to keep their arm still during each measurement. Blood pressure is measured using a special instrument. This can be either electronic or manual (worked by hand).

If acute seizure occurs, then mange as per the APLS algorithm (‘Management of the convulsing child’) with first-line treatment being benzodiazepines. Treatment of primary hypertension involves lifestyle modification. The main aim is to increase energy expenditure, reduce energy intake, and limit sodium intake. Increased intake of fresh fruit and vegetables, along with low-fat dairy products, has been demonstrated to have a positive impact on BP control in CYP (6). Other beneficial measures include avoidance of caffeine (including energy drinks), alcohol and smoking. Realistically, pharmacological treatment may be initiated to help control BP whilst lifestyle modifications are implemented as it can take time before any discardable benefit becomes apparent. If there are any cardiac concerns, then a chest x-ray and echocardiogram should be performed urgently before referral to nephrology. Early consideration should be given to starting a longer-acting antihypertensive if hypertension is likely to persist, rather than trying to control BP with intermittent dosing of short-acting agents. It is important that your child has a healthy weight for his or her age. Children (and adults) who are overweight are more likely to develop high blood pressure.

See also

Mattoo TK. Evaluation of hypertension in children and adolescents. https://www.uptodate.com/contents/search. Accessed May 12, 2021. FDA cleared: The Food and Drug Administration determines the device meets its criteria for blood pressure cuff devices.