Practice Management
The patient is a 38-year-old female who presents with persistent pain in her left thumb. She explains that she was bitten approximately 2 months prior. There is redness and swelling to the proximal phalanx area. The patient is febrile. View the x-ray and consider what your diagnosis and next steps would be. Resolution of the case is described on the next screen.
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An 18-year-old male visits your urgent care center for the first time, complaining of chronic lower back pain. He offers no explanation of its onset, but reports (upon being asked about his typical activities) that he is a linebacker on his high school football team and a heavyweight on the wrestling team. View the image taken and consider your next steps, along with possible diagnoses.
Read MoreThe patient is a 25-year-old male who presents with pain over the distal phalanx of the middle finger. He says he hit it with a hammer while hanging a picture frame in his new apartment a short while ago. Pain is evident upon palpation over the distal phalanx of the middle finger, but there are no cuts or breaks in the skin. Neurovascular status is intact. View the image taken (Figure 1) and consider what …
Read MoreCase The patient is an 8-year-old boy with pain in the right foot for the last several hours. He refuses to walk on the foot. There is no reported injury. On physical exam, you find there is a normal appearance to the foot (no erythema, Â swelling). However, there is pain with palpation over the plantar aspect of the mid aspect of the right foot. View the image taken (Figure 1) and consider what your diagnosis …
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Urgent message: The ability to evaluate children presenting with a limp—and to recognize red flags that help distinguish those to treat from those requiring immediate referral—should be within the purview of the urgent care clinician. Raymond W. Liu, MD, Hadeel Abaza, MD, and Allison Gilmore, MD A limping child without a clear traumatic history or diagnosis is a common presentation to an urgent care center. The broad differential diagnosis can be daunting, with causes that …
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