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Background: A blood pressure (BP) difference between the upper limbs is often encountered in primary care. Knowledge of its prevalence and importance in the accurate measurement of BP is poor, representing a source of error. Current hypertension guidelines do not emphasize this., Objectives: To establish the prevalence of an inter-arm blood pressure difference (IAD) and explore its association with other indicators of peripheral vascular disease (PVD) in a hypertensive primary care population., Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. Primary care, one rural general practice, was the setting of the study. The methods were controlled simultaneous measurement of brachial BPs, ankle-brachial pressure index (ABPI) and tiptoe stress testing in 94 subjects., Results: In all, 18 of 94 [19%, 95% confidence interval (CI) 11-27%] subjects had mean systolic inter-arm difference (sIAD) > or =10 mmHg and seven of 94 (7%, 95% CI 2-12%) had mean diastolic inter-arm difference (dIAD) > or =10 mmHg. Nineteen of 91 (20%, 95% CI 12-28%) had a reduced ABPI <0.9. There was negative correlation between systolic (Pearson's correlation coefficient - 0.378; P = 0.01) and diastolic (Pearson's correlation coefficient - 0.225; P = 0.05) magnitudes of IAD with ABPI. On tiptoe testing, 9/90 subjects (10%, 95% CI 4-16%) had a pressure drop > or =20%., Conclusions: An IAD and asymptomatic PVD are common in a primary care hypertensive population. Magnitude of the IAD is inversely correlated with ABPI, supporting the hypotheses that IADs are causally linked to PVD, and that IAD is a useful marker for the presence of PVD. Consequently, detection of an IAD should prompt the clinician to screen subjects for other signs of vascular disease and target them for aggressive cardiovascular risk factor modification.

Provision of acute vascular services is a topical subject for debate, but little has been documented on the total numbers of patients referred urgently to vascular surgeons. With the appointment in Exeter of a second consultant surgeon with a vascular interest, a thorough prospective audit was started of all vascular referrals seen outside the normal outpatient booking system. Between 1 February 1993 and 31 January 1995 a total of 877 such referrals were seen (446 in 1993-94 and 431 in 1994-95). The majority were inpatient referrals (38 percent) and patients seen urgently on the vascular surgical ward at the request of general practitioners (37 percent). The commonest presenting problems were limb ischaemia (42 percent), aortic aneurysms (11 percent) and diabetic foot complications (9 percent). The majority of patients were managed non-operatively. The commonest surgical procedure was amputation (in 8 percent), while 6 percent had grafts for aortic aneurysm, 4 percent grafts for ischaemia, 3 percent embolectomy, and 2 percent graft thrombectomy or revision. The two vascular surgeons were involved in out-of-hours operating substantially more than all but one of their general surgical colleagues, despite their reduced commitment to general surgical 'takes'. These figures document the substantial numbers of urgent referrals seen by vascular surgeons, many of which might well remain unrecorded in workload figures, because of the circumstances in which they are seen. We present the details of our arrangements for urgent vascular cover, and discuss the possible alternatives.

Clinical audit and regular morbidity and mortality meetings are required of all units involved in surgical training. Agreed standards of training are under discussion in the face of new examinations and have not at present been formally evaluated. In order to quantify the level of operative surgery instruction in this unit, a prospective 'Teaching Audit' has been undertaken, using an extension of the existing surgical audit. Results, which are presented as a standardised diagram, reflect the relationship between trainer and trainee. Problems, such as missed teaching opportunities, were identified. The method can be applied to any specialty, and may be useful in planning teaching resources and surgical training programmes.