Title: Passive Leg Raise in Children<br/>Author: Jennifer Guyther<br/><a href='http://umem.org/profiles/faculty/314/'>[Click to email author]</a><hr/><p>
Passive leg raise (PLR) has been studied in adults as a bedside tool to predict volume responsiveness (see previous pearls from 5/7/13 and 6/17/2008). Can this be applied to children?<br />
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A single center prospective study looked at 40 intensive care patients ranging in age from 1 month to 12.5 years. They used a noninvasive monitoring system that could measure heart rate, stroke volume and cardiac output. These parameters were measured at a baseline, after PLR, after another baseline and after a 10 ml/kg bolus.<br />
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Overall, changes in the cardiac index varied with PLR. However, there was a statistically significant correlation in children over 5 years showing an increase in cardiac index with PLR and with a fluid bolus.<br />
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<strong>Bottom line:</strong> In children older then 5 years, PLR can be a quick bedside tool to assess for fluid responsiveness, especially if worried about fluid overload and in an under served area.</p>
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Lu et al. The Passive Leg Raise Test to Predict Fluid Responsiveness in Children - Preliminary Observations. Indian J Pediatr. Dec 2013. (epub ahead of print).</p>
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