Is the leak test reproducible?
BACKGROUND
The leak test is an accepted practice for evaluating airway edema and patient readiness for extubation. Reproducibility and interobserver reliability for this test have not been established. We studied the reproducibility and reliability of the leak test in and among health care professionals.


METHODS
Thirteen consecutive intubated patients were tested in triplicate and in blinded fashion by three observers to determine the leak around the endotracheal tube before extubation. All patients were pharmacologically paralyzed and sedated before assessment.


RESULTS
Neither interobserver or intraobserver variability was statistically significant when a standardized method was used to determine the leak.


CONCLUSIONS
The leak test is reliable by the same or different observers regardless of varied clinical experience when using a standardized approach to measuring the leak.
Division of Critical Care Medicine, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston, GA 30322-1101, USA.
R
R
Pettignano
S E
SE
Holloway
D
D
Hyman
M
M
LaBuz
D000293:Adolescent; D000402:Airway Obstruction / Q000517:prevention & control; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001314:Auscultation; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives / Q000627:therapeutic use; D007223:Infant; D007442:Intubation, Intratracheal / Q000295:instrumentation; D008297:Male; D019148:Neuromuscular Blockade; D015588:Observer Variation; D011312:Pressure; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011654:Pulmonary Edema / Q000628:therapy; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012135:Respiratory Sounds; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives