Practice Management
Urgent message: Septic arthritis can lead to significant morbidity if not treated in a timely manner. Bacteria within the synovial space can lead to rapid joint destruction and irreversible loss of function. When patients present to the urgent care center with a red, hot, swollen, painful joint, every attempt must be made to rule out this disease entity to prevent significant morbidity and mortality. Introduction Patients frequently present to urgent care with a red, swollen, …
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Urgent message: While pediatric elbow injuries can be a simple fix in an urgent care setting, understanding mechanism of injury and recognizing cases where referral is warranted help ensure positive outcomes. Pediatric musculoskeletal injuries comprise approximately 12% of the 10 million annual visits to urgent care centers and emergency departments in the United States. History, physical exam and proper imaging remain the mainstay of diagnosis and treatment of many orthopedic related chief complaints. The purpose …
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Case An 80-year-old woman presents to an urgent care center with left hip pain that she has had for 4 years but that has worsened in the last week. She reports that before the pain worsened, she had gone on a long walk with her grandson. The pain is worse with movement through the range of motion. She has taken ibuprofen, but it did not reduce her pain. She says that she has not had …
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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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