Straight leg raise

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The Straight leg raise also, called Lasègue's 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.

[edit] Technique

With the patient lying down on his/her back 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]

[edit] 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]:

If the raising the opposite leg causes pain (cross straight leg raising):

  • sensitivity 29%
  • specificity 88%

[edit] References

  1. ^ Waddell G, McCulloch JA, Kummel E, Venner RM (1980). "Nonorganic physical signs in low-back pain". Spine 5 (2): 117–25. PMID 6446157. 
  2. ^ 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. 
  3. ^ Speed C (2004). "Low back pain". BMJ 328 (7448): 1119–21. doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7448.1119. PMID 15130982. 
  4. ^ 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. 
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