Straight leg raise
The Straight leg raise also, called Lasègue sign or Lasègue test, is a test done during the physical examination to determine whether a patient with low back pain has an underlying herniated disk.
Technique
With the patient laying down on a table, the examiner lifts the patient's leg while the knee is straight.
A variation is to lift the leg while the patient is sitting.[1] However, this reduces the sensitivity of the test.[2]
Interpretation
"The straight leg raise test is positive if pain in the sciatic distribution is reproduced between 30° and 70° passive flexion of the straight leg." [3]
A meta-analysis reported the accuracy is[4]:
- sensitivity 91%
- specificity 26%
If pain below the knee only occurs below the know after more than 70°, this may indicate "sciatic nerve compression outside the spinal canal."[5]
If the raising the opposite leg causes pain (cross straight leg raising):[4]
- sensitivity 29%
- specificity 88%
References
- ↑ Waddell G, McCulloch JA, Kummel E, Venner RM (1980). "Nonorganic physical signs in low-back pain". Spine 5 (2): 117-25. PMID 6446157. [e]
- ↑ Rabin A, Gerszten PC, Karausky P, Bunker CH, Potter DM, Welch WC (2007). "The sensitivity of the seated straight-leg raise test compared with the supine straight-leg raise test in patients presenting with magnetic resonance imaging evidence of lumbar nerve root compression". Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation 88 (7): 840-3. DOI:10.1016/j.apmr.2007.04.016. PMID 17601462. Research Blogging.
- ↑ Speed C (2004). "Low back pain". BMJ 328 (7448): 1119-21. DOI:10.1136/bmj.328.7448.1119. PMID 15130982. Research Blogging.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Devillé WL, van der Windt DA, Dzaferagić A, Bezemer PD, Bouter LM (2000). "The test of Lasègue: systematic review of the accuracy in diagnosing herniated discs". Spine 25 (9): 1140-7. PMID 10788860. [e]
- ↑ Majlesi J, Togay H, Unalan H, Toprak S (April 2008). "The sensitivity and specificity of the Slump and the Straight Leg Raising tests in patients with lumbar disc herniation". J Clin Rheumatol 14 (2): 87–91. DOI:10.1097/RHU.0b013e31816b2f99. PMID 18391677. Research Blogging.