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Research Article: Cross-sectional study investigating the relationship between pit recovery time and serum albumin levels in bilateral lower extremity pitting oedema

Date Published: 2024-01-18

Abstract:
Objectives In this study, we re-evaluated the relationship between pit recovery time (PRT) and serum albumin levels and elucidated the factors influencing PRT. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting Patients who visited the outpatient department or were admitted to a small urban hospital in Japan. Participants 135 adult Japanese patients with bilateral lower extremity pitting oedema. Interventions Primary and secondary outcome measures : this study assessed the correlation between PRT and serum albumin levels, calculated the predictive accuracy for identifying a group with low albumin levels when the PRT of the lower leg was <40?s, and identified variables that influence PRT. Results We found no significant correlation between lower leg PRT and serum albumin levels. Furthermore, a PRT of <40?s was largely ineffective in predicting low albumin levels. Factors influencing PRT included the diagnosis of malnutrition oedema, examinations conducted during hospitalisation, diagnosis of cardiac oedema, use of diuretics, thickness of the lower limb soft tissue, serum creatinine level, estimated right ventricular systolic pressure (RVSP), age, serum albumin level, potassium level and blood urea nitrogen to serum creatinine ratio. Notable correlations with PRT were observed in relation to lower limb soft tissue thickness, age and estimated RVSP. Conclusions Given that the PRT is influenced by multiple factors, its correlation with serum albumin levels is weak. Thus, predicting hypoalbuminaemia based solely on PRT is inaccurate.

Introduction:
Lower extremity oedema is a common symptom in primary care settings. Differential diagnoses of oedema are numerous, 1 2 and the initial differentiation is performed using information such as the timing of onset of oedema, whether it is bilateral or unilateral, medication history, presence of systemic diseases and presence of pitting oedema. 1 2 Henry and Altmannroposed a method for differentiating pitting oedema in the lower extremities by considering the time required for a manually induced pit to recover (pit…

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