I know I use to know this but now I have forgotten How do you tell if someone has 1+ or 2+ or 3 + edema in their legs? Thanks
Best Answer (provided by Daytonite)...
Edema is evaluated on it's ability to pit. The examiner's fingers are pressed into a dependent area of the patient's skin for 5 seconds. Areas used to check for pitting are the sacrum if the patient is bedridden, or the lower leg. If pitting edema is present, the fingers will sink into the tissue and leave an impression of the fingers when they are removed. This pitting is graded on a scale of +1 to +4 as follows:
Definition | |
Grade +1 | (Trace) Mild pitting, 2mm indent, slight indentation, rapid return to normal |
Grade +2 | (Mild) Moderate pitting, 4mm indent, rebounds in a few seconds |
Grade +3 | (Moderate) Deep pitting, 6mm indent, 30 seconds |
Grade +4 | (Severe) Very deep pitting, 8mm indent, > 30 seconds to return to normal |