According to the guidelines of the Standards Division of the Society of Interventional Radiology:
1. With the patient supine, measure brachial and ankle systolic pressure by handheld Doppler.
2. To obtain an ABPI, divide the highest systolic pressure of the dorsalis pedis (or tibialis posterior) for
each foot by the highest systolic pressure at the arm. For example:
To obtain the left ABPI, first measure the systolic brachial pressure in both left and right arms.
Select the higher value as your brachial artery pressure measurement. There should be a difference of less than 10 mmHg between each brachial pressure measurement. Next, measure the left dorsalis pedis (or tibialis posterior) arterial systolic pressures. Select the higher of these two values as the ankle pressure measurement.
Then, divide the selected ankle pressure measurement by the previously selected brachial artery systolic pressure measurement. Normal values range between 0.97 and 1.1; values <0.97 identify patients with angiographically proven occlusions or stenoses, with 96% sensitivity and 94– 100% specificity. Most patients with claudication will have an ABPI between 0.5 and 0.8, whereas those with pain at rest will have values <0.5. Indexes <0.2 are associated with ischemic or gangrenous extremitie
1. With the patient supine, measure brachial and ankle systolic pressure by handheld Doppler.
2. To obtain an ABPI, divide the highest systolic pressure of the dorsalis pedis (or tibialis posterior) for
each foot by the highest systolic pressure at the arm. For example:
To obtain the left ABPI, first measure the systolic brachial pressure in both left and right arms.
Select the higher value as your brachial artery pressure measurement. There should be a difference of less than 10 mmHg between each brachial pressure measurement. Next, measure the left dorsalis pedis (or tibialis posterior) arterial systolic pressures. Select the higher of these two values as the ankle pressure measurement.
Then, divide the selected ankle pressure measurement by the previously selected brachial artery systolic pressure measurement. Normal values range between 0.97 and 1.1; values <0.97 identify patients with angiographically proven occlusions or stenoses, with 96% sensitivity and 94– 100% specificity. Most patients with claudication will have an ABPI between 0.5 and 0.8, whereas those with pain at rest will have values <0.5. Indexes <0.2 are associated with ischemic or gangrenous extremitie