Peripheral Circulation Assessment

If it’s been a while, you can review palpation of some peripheral pulses here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK350/

Peripheral Pulse Grading by Palpation

0: absent
1+: faint, but detectable
2+: slightly diminished
3+: normal pulse
4+: bounding

Peripheral edema is also something that hospital physical therapists need to assess and document in a way which enables future comparison. Typically edema is also discussed by noting level (i.e., 2+ pitting edema, approximately to mid-shin bilaterally), and limb girth can also be measured and recorded, particularly when asymmetric. https://onlinejcf.com/article/S1071-9164(13)00464-8/fulltext

Peripheral Edema Grading

0: No pitting edema
1+: Mild pitting edema; 2mm depression that disappears quickly
2+: Moderate pitting edema; 4mm depression that disappears in 10-15 sec
3+: Moderately severe pitting edema; 6mm depression which may last for more than 1 minute
4+: Severe pitting edema; 8mm depression which lasts more than 2 minutes

There are many more important parts of assessing peripheral circulation and cardiopulmonary dysfunction by physical exam, but these are entry-level assessment items through which any hospital therapist can add information to the care team’s judgment of a patient’s clinical status.