Sphygmomanometry v. finger palpation re blood pressure

Sphygmomanometric results were given in numerical form instead of general, descriptive terms. Proponents looked with disdain on the ‘vague and varying phrases and similes with which each clinician attempts to express his palpation impression.’ The number that the sphygmomanometer generated could be graphed and correlated with other findings like pulse rate, temperature, and symptomatology, thus making patterns visible that would be difficult or impossible to discern from subjective assessments. Such graphs also served to make diagnosis more uniform and therapeutics more rational. Blood pressure graphs could be transmitted from physician to physician and therefore served as useful teaching and consulting tools. Sphygmomanometer results, then, not only gave specific, numerical values, but they also provided a template with which to organize clinical data so that hourly and daily trends in patient condition could be examined. The finger simply could not do this (Evans, 797-98).