Straight leg raise

The straight leg raise is a test that can be performed during a physical examination, with the leg being lifted actively by the patient or passively by the clinician. If the straight leg raise is done actively by the patient it is a test of functional leg strength, particularly the rectus femoris element of the quadriceps (checking both hip flexion and knee extension strength simultaneously). If carried out passively (also called Lasègue's sign, Lasègue test or Lazarević's sign), it is used to determine whether a patient with low back pain has an underlying nerve root sensitivity, often located at L5 (fifth lumbar spinal nerve). The rest of this article relates to the passive version of the test.