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ORCA Medical, Inc., which is a medical device distributor in the Pacific Northwest, as well as the company that I work for, recently signed an agreement with Medwave, Inc. as a manufacturer sales representative of Medwave’s products. Medwave manufactures and sells revolutionary blood pressure monitoring products that utilize a sensor placed on the wrist; no cuff involved. ORCA Medical became interested in representing Medwave’s products due to the many clinical studies that have been presented and/or published validating the comfort and accuracy of their devices.
During a product training session provided by Medwave, we had the opportunity to have a “hands on” session with the blood pressure devices. Much to my concern, when the Vasotrac monitor was placed on my wrist, my blood pressure reading was 238/127. Earlier in the day, I had used a traditional cuff device to measure my blood pressure, and the readings were in what I consider my normal range, which is nowhere near as high as the pressure reading I was getting from the Vasotrac. As I continued to monitor my pressure with the Vasotrac, the readings remained alarmingly high. I immediately sought medical attention, and my physician confirmed the high pressure reported by the Medwave device. In fact, I was diagnosed with a cardiac edema, a manifestation of congestive heart failure caused by increased venous and capillary pressures and often associated with the retention of sodium by the kidneys, and given medication, I lost 5 lbs. the first day, then another 3 lbs. the next day, rendering a total of 8lbs. lost in 48 hours due to passing retained fluid. Since this unsettling situation, I have learned the various inadequacies that a blood pressure cuff presents to a clinician, and the importance of having a reliable, accurate device for monitoring blood pressure. I can only imagine how this day may have transpired had we not have been training for representation of Medwave’s products; I could have suffered a stroke or maybe cardiac arrest. Now, through my new medication, my blood pressure has returned to an acceptable level, and I for one am extremely grateful that my company decided to represent Medwave’s non-invasive blood pressure measuring solutions.
It is true that medical professionals are the worst people to treat medically; “We know it all”. I have been in the medical field since 1972 as a Cardiovascular Perfusionist, and the last thing on my mind would be that I could become a heart patient.
“I am pleased to write this letter concerning the management of our carotid endarterectomy (CEA) patients, using the Vasotrac continuous non-invasive blood pressure (NIBP) monitor by Medwave, at St. Luke Hospitals. At St. Luke's, our CEA patients are routinely administered a MAC anesthetic after same day admission. In doing so, their individual recovery times are much shorter, as well as avoiding a ICU admission.”
“By utilizing the Medwave Vasotrac, our facility is often able to forgo placement of an arterial line. This benefit alone justified the expenditure of the Vasotrac monitor, not to mention, the undesired pain and risk of undergoing arterial line placement.”
“Patients undergoing CEA at one of our facilities are often discharged from the PACU to the telemetry unit. In the past, these patients were admitted to the ICU/CCU simply for having an arterial line in place.”
“We are currently using the Vasotrac at two hospitals in the Kettering network, Kettering Medical Center and Sycamore Hospital. Our purchase of the devices was based on the Vasotrac's ability to perform where a blood pressure cuff will not. The Vasotrac has proven its ability to accurately monitor blood pressure in our morbidly obese patients as well as our mastectomy patients, both of which are difficult patient populations for blood pressure monitoring. We have also found that we are able to reduce the number of arterial catheters we use for our vascular cases due to the Vasotrac's accuracy and frequency of reading. The Vasotrac, manufactured by Medwave, has met our needs and exceeded our expectations.”
We are utilizing Vasotrac in our
Nuclear Medicine stress testing area for chemical stress testing. It allows us
to infuse our medication without interruption from an inflatable cuff. This
keeps the patient from getting boluses of the medication. The patients also
prefer the comfort of the Vasotrac compared to traditional cuffs. We are able
to monitor the blood pressure response to the medication closer now since we
can use a continual monitoring system if needed. We are planning on using the
Vasotrac in our echo stress lab as well this year. Thank you!
Suzanne Lovell, RN-stress testing supervisor.
Over the past few months, I have had the opportunity to evaluate Medwave’s Vasotrac device. I have found the machine to provide reliable, accurate blood pressure readings under almost all circumstances. Whether sitting in the ambulance during transport, or even with patients who were shaking from being cold, the device continued providing serial blood pressure readings that were comparable with simultaneous or subsequent auscultated readings. Notably, particular attention must be maintained in regards to placement of the wrist sensor. After only a few patient contacts, however, I had practiced enough that consistently placing the sensor with minimal readjustment or reapplication was achievable. Sensor placement skill is easy to develop and maintain with little effort on the part of the health care provider.
Moreover, the Vasotrac device performed with truly amazing accuracy on a patient in February. After resuscitating an elderly adult male patient found in cardiac arrest, the monitor showed atrial fibrillation with a heart rate of 90. An absent pulse at the wrist suggested PEA, but the Vasotrac device registered a blood pressure of approximately 64/40. Sure enough, a quick check of the carotid pulse revealed a weak, irregular pulse. After starting a Dopamine drip the patient’s blood pressure continued to improve with the return of a strong pulse at the neck and wrist. The Vasotrac device continued providing blood pressure readings that mirrored this improving pressure, even while transporting emergency traffic to the hospital.
I must admit that I am impressed with the reliability and accuracy of the readings taken by this new and exciting technology, and I look forward to using the Vasotrac device again the next time I go out on a call. It reduces workload, improves charting, and gives me more time to interact with my patient, allowing me to provide a higher standard of care.
“I find that the Vasotrac blood pressure monitor manufactured by Medwave, Inc. provides highly accurate blood pressure readings on our routine patients, but more importantly provides accurate readings on our difficult to monitor patients with the same ease of use. A case in point would be the morbidly obese patient with an upper arm size and structure that makes it virtually impossible to get an accurate reading utilizing a cuff. I use the device during long plastic surgery cases. On some patients with a history of easy bruisability, regular cuff measurements sometimes produce areas of petechiae under the cuff. The Vasotrac avoids such “trauma” on these patients. Another subset of patients I use the Vasotrac on is those with very loose skin on the brachium. It is hard to avoid “pinching” such loose skin with the cuff. The Vasotrac avoids this problem altogether. The Vasotrac by virtue of its wrist sensor technology functions with the same accuracy as on any other patient. The easy sensor placement is the same for pediatrics, normal sized and large adults. In addition to accuracy and ease of use, we have the V-Line interface option, which allows us to display the Vasotrac arterial waveform on our existing cardiac monitor so I can monitor my patient from one screen. To sum it all up, the Vasotrac provides accurate, reproducible blood pressure readings, is easy to use and works on an extremely wide range of patients, including those patients where conventional technology will not work.”