Continuous direct and indirect blood pressure measurement (Finapres) in the critically ill.

Continuous noninvasive blood pressure measurement is of great potential use in the critically ill. This study was designed to find out whether measurements of blood pressure by a Finapres accurately represented intra-arterial pressure. Comparisons were made between readings from a radial artery line and from a Finapres finger cuff in 10 critically ill patients. There was an unpredictable but usually stable difference between measurements from the two sources; this difference varied in magnitude and direction in individual patients. At present the Finapres cannot be recommended as a substitute for intra-arterial blood pressure measurement in the critically ill.