Signs of The arterial pulse

The arterial pulse

The pulse should be palpated at the radial and carotid artery looking for the following features:

·        The rate is normally counted over 15 seconds and multiplied by 4. The normal pulse is defined as a rate between 60 and 100 beats per minute. Outside this range it is described as either a bradycardia or a tachycardia.

·        The rhythm is either regular, regularly irregular, i.e. irregular but with a pattern, or irregularly irregular, which is suggestive of atrial fibrillation.

·        The character and volume of the pulse are normally assessed at the brachial or carotid artery. Character and volume felt at the carotid may be described according to the waveform palpated (see Fig. 2.2).

·        Pulse delay is a delay in the pulsation felt between two pulses. Radio-femoral delay is suggestive of coarctation of the aorta, the lesion being just distal to the origin of the subclavian artery (at the point where the ductus arteriosus joined the aorta). Radio-radial delay suggests arterial occlusion due to an aneurysm or atherosclerotic plaque.