some questions...

[cajrio]

to assess jaudice on a dark skinned or AA infant do you check mucous membranes or soles of the feet??

If an infant has a BT shunt procedure is it ok to use a bp cuff on his right arm?

Thanks,

[dawngloves, BSN, RN]

When I check for jaundice in a dark skinned baby, I push on their nose.

And I'm not sure what a BT shunt is, but if it's in their right arm, I'd say no.

[elizabells, BSN, RN]

When I check for jaundice in a dark skinned baby, I push on their nose.

And I'm not sure what a BT shunt is, but if it's in their right arm, I'd say no.

I believe it's a Blalock-Taussig shunt, used as one of the intermediate steps in HLH repair. I'm not sure why you couldn't check BP in the right arm, but I've packed my Gardener away or I'd check for you. Doesn't it just keep the PDA or A/VSD open? Are you worried about pressure increasing and blowing the shunt? Can't quite logic this one through at this time of the am...

[EricJRN, MSN, RN]

Doesn't the Blalock-Taussig procedure cause loss of the brachial and radial pulses? I think that might be where the OP is going.

[elizabells, BSN, RN]

Doesn't the Blalock-Taussig procedure cause loss of the brachial and radial pulses? I think that might be where the OP is going.

I just found a pubmed article that says there is no difference in forearm bloodflow in BT patients. But they only looked at six, so I don't know. I'll keep looking - we do a lot of cardiacs on my (yay, I can say that for sure now!) unit.