Accuracy of Passive Leg Raising Test in Prediction of Fluid Responsiveness in Children

Ahmed A El-Nawawy1, Passant M Farghaly1, Hadir M Hassouna1

  • 1Pediatric Department (PICU), Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria University, Egypt.

Insights

The passive leg raising (PLR) test accurately identifies non-responders in critically ill children under five. While reliable for detecting non-responders, it cannot definitively identify all fluid responders.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric critical care medicine
  • Hemodynamic monitoring

Background:

  • Fluid responsiveness assessment is crucial in critically ill children.
  • Accurate prediction of fluid responsiveness aids in optimizing hemodynamic management.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the accuracy of the passive leg raising (PLR) test in predicting fluid responsiveness in critically ill children younger than 5 years.
  • To determine the sensitivity and specificity of PLR in this pediatric population.

Main Methods:

  • Prospective observational study in a pediatric intensive care unit.
  • Hemodynamic parameters, including stroke volume (SV) and cardiac index (CI), were measured using bedside transthoracic echocardiography.
  • Changes in SV (delta SV) and CI were assessed after PLR and fluid challenge.

Main Results:

  • A 10% increase in delta SV after PLR demonstrated excellent discrimination of fluid responsiveness (AUC 0.81, 100% specificity).
  • An 8.7% increase in CI after PLR also significantly discriminated fluid responsiveness (AUC 0.7, 91.67% specificity).

Conclusions:

  • Passive leg raising is a reliable test for identifying non-responders in critically ill children under five.
  • The test is most effective when performed correctly with echocardiography to measure its transient effects.
Abstract