Practice Management
The patient is an 80-year-old man who presents with a two-week history of low back pain. He is hemodynamically stable and has a normal neurological exam. His personal medical history reveals hypertension, for which he is being treated. Blood pressure is 140/80, pulse 63. View the x-ray taken and consider what your diagnosis and next steps would be.
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Though it is easy to predict the usual etiology of common complaints, we need to be able to exclude life-threatening causes of symptoms. In law, we are innocent until proven guilty. In medicine, we are required to prove certain diseases are not occurring; we are, in a sense, guilty until proven innocent: A 50-year-old man with chest pain and diaphoresis has an MI until proven otherwise. A 22-year-old woman with lower abdominal pain has an …
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The patient is a 36-year-old obese woman who presented with upper right back pain 10 days after a normal child birth. Pain is worse on coughing. Otherwise, she is fit and well. Upon examination, you find: No shortness of breath Normal oxygen saturation Patient is afebrile Auscultation: Reduced breathing sounds in right base, fine crackles on right View the image taken and consider what your diagnosis would be.
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The patient is a 25-year-old male who presented to urgent care after falling from a height of two stories, landing flat on his feet. He is able to ambulate, though only with pain. In addition, he complains of back pain. He is generally healthy, and no neurological deficit was found. View the x-ray taken (Figure 1) and consider what your next steps would be. Resolution of the case is described on the next page.
Read MoreA 36-year-old obese woman presents with upper right back pain 10 days after a normal child birth. Pain is worse on coughing. Otherwise, she is fit and well. No shortness of breath Normal oxygen saturation Patient is afebrile Auscultation: Reduced breathing sounds in right base, fine crackles on right View Figure 1, take these findings into account, and consider what your next steps would be. Resolution of the case is described on the next page.
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