Most of the time, blood pressure is taken by placing a cuff on your arm. However, in some cases, your doctor may require an invasive reading of your blood pressure. When this is the case, you need to go to a hospital setting and your doctor, surgeon and anesthesiologist would obtain the blood pressure readings for you. An invasive method of reading blood pressure is usually done when doctors require the most accurate reading and to do this, the doctor would go directly inside the artery.

An anesthesiologist would numb the area locally before your doctor can start the procedure by inserting a catheter into your artery. The catheter would be taped onto your skin, so that it remains in place while the doctor is watching for the blood pressure to change through each heartbeat. A cannula is then inserted into the artery. This cannula would provide your doctor with a very accurate visual of your blood pressure. Unfortunately, a small incision is required and is made through the skin and into the artery. The good thing about this procedure is that it would only take a couple of minutes.

This kind of procedure is usually required in patients with a history of health problems associated with high blood pressure. Some require an invasive blood pressure reading when they are undergoing a procedure. For instance, a patient with a particular tumor requires this kind of blood pressure reading, so that the anesthesiologist would be aware of the current blood pressure throughout the procedure, allowing the medical team to respond to emergencies whenever the patient's blood pressure shoots up.

Since the doctor is directly getting the pressure from your artery, expect a more accurate blood pressure reading compared to the traditional cuff method. After the procedure, it would leave a small scare, which would heal up well in a few weeks.