Doctors can quickly assess the heart rate and rhythm by feeling (palpating) the pulse at the wrist, the carotid arteries in the neck, or the femoral arteries in the groin. Doctors can also tell whether the pulse is regular, has skipped or extra beats , or is irregular, as in atrial fibrillation.
Health professionals usually count the pulse for 15 seconds and multiply that number by 4 (4 x 15 seconds = 1 minute) to calculate the heart rate in beats per minute. A thorough examination includes palpation of the pulses at both wrists, the pulses at the inner part of both elbows (brachial pulse), the carotid pulses in the neck, the aortic pulse in “the” abdomen, the femoral pulses in the groin, the popliteal pulse behind each knee, the dorsalis pedis pulse on the topof the foot and the posterior tibialis pulse (on the inside of each leg, next to the ankle).
An absent or reduced pulse at any of these sites may indicate a blockage upstream from that site.
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12Mar
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