• Part 1 Approach to the Patient

• Part 2 Approach to Clinical Problem-Solving

• Part 3 Approach to Reading

Part 1. Approach to the Patient

Applying “book learning” to a specific clinical situation is one the most challenging tasks in medicine. To do so, the clinician must not only retain information, organize facts, and recall large amounts of data but also apply all of this to the patient. The purpose of this text is to facilitate this process.

The first step involves gathering information, also known as establishing the database. This includes taking the history, performing the physical examination, and obtaining selective laboratory examinations, special studies, and/or imaging tests. Sensitivity and respect should always be exercised during the interview of patients. A good clinician also knows how to ask the same question in several different ways, using different terminology. For example, patients may deny having “congestive heart failure” but will answer affirmatively to being treated for “fluid on the lungs.” Starting with open-ended questions for each section of the history often can help gather large amounts of information on the patient efficiently and allow the clinician’s follow-up questions to be targeted and more meaningful.

HISTORY

1. Basic information:

   1. Age: Some conditions are more common at certain ages; for instance, chest pain in an elderly patient is more worrisome for coronary artery disease than the same complaint in a teenager.

   2. Gender: Some disorders are more common in men, such as abdominal aortic aneurysms. In contrast, women more commonly have autoimmune problems, such as chronic idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura or systemic lupus erythematosus. Also, the possibility of pregnancy must be considered in any woman of childbearing age.

   3. Ethnicity: Some disease processes are more common in certain ethnic groups (eg, type 2 diabetes mellitus in the Hispanic population).

      CLINICAL PEARL

      • Family medicine illustrates the importance of longitudinal care, that is, seeing the patient in various phases and stages of life.

2. Chief complaint: What is it that brought the patient into the provider’s office or hospital? Has there been a change in a chronic or recurring condition, or is this a completely new problem? The duration and character of the complaint, associated symptoms, and exacerbating/relieving factors should be recorded. The chief complaint engenders a differential diagnosis, and the possible etiologies should be explored by further inquiry.

   CLINICAL PEARL

   • The first line of any presentation should include age, gender, marital status, and chief complaint and if applicable ethnicity. Example: A 32-year-old, married, man complains of lower abdominal pain of 8 hours’ duration.

3. Past medical history:

   1. Chronic conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, reactive airway disease, congestive heart failure, angina, or stroke should be detailed.

      1. Age of onset, severity, end-organ involvement.

      2. Medications taken for the particular illness, including any recent changes to medications and reason for the change(s).

      3. Last evaluation of the condition (eg, When was the last stress test or cardiac catheterization performed in the patient with angina?)

      4. Which provider or clinic is following the patient for the disorder?

   2. Minor illnesses such as recent upper respiratory infections.

   3. Hospitalizations, no matter how trivial, should be queried.

4. Past surgical history: Date and type of procedure performed, indication, and outcome. Laparoscopy versus laparotomy should be distinguished. Surgeon and hospital name/location should be listed. This information should be correlated with the surgical scars on the patient’s body. Any complications should be delineated, including anesthetic complications, difficult intubations, and so on.

5. Allergies: Reactions to medications should be recorded, including severity and temporal relationship to medication. Immediate hypersensitivity should be distinguished from an adverse reaction.

6. Medications: A list of medications, dosage, route of administration and frequency, and duration of use should be developed. Prescription, over-the-counter, supplements, and herbal remedies are all relevant. If the patient is currently taking antibiotics, it is important to note what type of infection is being treated.

7. Immunization history: Vaccination and prevention of disease are principal goals of the family care provider hence, recording the immunizations received, including dates, age, route, and adverse reactions, if any, is critical.

8. Screening history: Cost-effective surveillance for common diseases or malignancy is another cornerstone responsibility of the family care provider. Organized record-keeping is important to an efficient approach to this area.

9. Social history: Occupation, marital status, family support, and tendencies toward depression or anxiety are important. Use or abuse of illicit drugs, tobacco, or alcohol should also be recorded. Social history, including marital stressors, sexual dysfunction, and sexual preference, are of importance. Patients, especially older patients or those with chronic illnesses, should be asked about medical power of attorney and advance directives.

10. Family history: Many major medical problems are genetically transmitted (eg, hemophilia, sickle cell disease). In addition, a family history of conditions such as breast cancer and ischemic heart disease can be a risk factor for the development of these diseases.

11. Review of systems: A systematic review should be performed but focused on the life-threatening and the more common diseases. For example, in a young man with a testicular mass, trauma to the area, weight loss, and infectious symptoms are important to note. In an elderly woman with generalized weakness, symptoms suggestive of cardiac disease should be elicited, such as chest pain, shortness of breath, fatigue, or palpitations.

PHYSICAL EXAMINATION

1. General appearance: Mental status, alert versus obtunded, anxious, in pain, in distress, interaction with other family members, and with examiner.

2. Vital signs: Record the temperature, blood pressure, heart rate, and respiratory rate. An oxygen saturation is useful in patients with respiratory symptoms. Height and weight should be placed here with a body mass index calculated (weight in kilogram/height in meters-squared = kg/m²).

3. Head and neck examination: Evidence of trauma, tumors, facial edema, goiter and thyroid nodules, and carotid bruits should be sought. In patients with altered mental status or a head injury, pupillary size, symmetry, and reactivity are important. Mucous membranes should be inspected for pallor, jaundice, and evidence of dehydration. Cervical and supraclavicular nodes should be palpated.

4. Breast examination: Inspection for symmetry and skin or nipple retraction, as well as palpation for masses. The nipple should be assessed for discharge, and the axillary and supraclavicular regions should be examined.

5. Cardiac examination: The point of maximal impulse should be ascertained and the heart auscultated at the apex and base. It is important to note whether the auscultated rhythm is regular or irregular. Heart sounds (including S₃ and S₄), murmurs, clicks, and rubs should be characterized. Systolic flow murmurs are fairly common as a result of the increased cardiac output, but significant diastolic murmurs are unusual.

6. Pulmonary examination: The lung fields should be examined systematically and thoroughly. Stridor, wheezes, rales, and rhonchi should be recorded. The clinician should also search for evidence of consolidation (bronchial breath sounds, egophony) and increased work of breathing (retractions, abdominal breathing, accessory muscle use).

7. Abdominal examination: The abdomen should be inspected for scars, distension, masses, and discoloration. For instance, the Grey-Turner sign of bruising at the flank areas may indicate intra-abdominal or retroperitoneal hemorrhage. Auscultation should identify normal versus high-pitched and hyperactive versus hypoactive bowel sounds. The abdomen should be percussed for the presence of shifting dullness (indicating ascites). Then, careful palpation should begin away from the area of pain and progress to include the whole abdomen to assess for tenderness, masses, organomegaly (ie, spleen or liver), and peritoneal signs. Guarding and whether it is voluntary or involuntary should be noted.

8. Back and spine examination: The back should be assessed for symmetry, tenderness, and masses. The flank regions particularly are important to assess for pain on percussion that may indicate renal disease.

9. Genital examination:

   1. Female: The external genitalia should be inspected, then the speculum used to visualize the cervix and vagina. A bimanual examination should attempt to elicit cervical motion tenderness, uterine size, and ovarian masses or tenderness.

   2. Male: The penis should be examined for hypospadias, lesions, and discharge. The scrotum should be palpated for tenderness and masses. If a mass is present, it can be transilluminated to distinguish between solid and cystic masses. The groin region should be carefully palpated for bulging (hernias) upon rest and provocation (coughing, standing).

   3. Rectal examination: A rectal examination will reveal masses in the posterior pelvis and may identify gross or occult blood in the stool. In females, nodularity and tenderness in the uterosacral ligament may be signs of endometriosis. The posterior uterus and palpable masses in the cul-de-sac may be identified by rectal examination. In the male, the prostate gland should be palpated for tenderness, nodularity, and enlargement.

10. Extremities and skin: The presence of joint effusions, tenderness, rashes, edema, and cyanosis should be recorded. It is also important to note capillary refill and peripheral pulses.

11. Neurologic examination: Patients who present with neurologic complaints require a thorough assessment, including mental status, cranial nerves, strength, sensation, reflexes, and cerebellar function.

    CLINICAL PEARL

    • A thorough understanding of functional anatomy is important to optimally interpret the physical examination findings.

12. Laboratory assessment depends on the circumstances:

    1. A complete blood count (CBC) can assess for anemia, leukocytosis (infection), and thrombocytopenia.

    2. Basic metabolic panel: electrolytes, glucose, BUN (blood urea nitrogen), and creatinine (renal function).

    3. Urinalysis and/or urine culture to assess for hematuria, pyuria, or bacteriuria. A pregnancy test is important in women of childbearing age.

    4. Aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), bilirubin, and alkaline phosphatase for liver function; amylase and lipase to evaluate the pancreas.

    5. Cardiac markers (creatine kinase myocardial band [CK-MB], troponin, myoglobin) if coronary artery disease or other cardiac dysfunction is suspected.

    6. Drug levels such as acetaminophen level in possible overdoses.

    7. Arterial blood gas measurements give information about oxygenation, carbon dioxide, and pH readings.

13. Diagnostic adjuncts:

    1. Electrocardiogram if cardiac ischemia, dysrhythmia, or other cardiac dysfunction is suspected.

    2. Ultrasound examination is useful in evaluating pelvic processes in female patients (eg, pelvic inflammatory disease, tubo-ovarian abscess) and in diagnosing gallstones and other gallbladder disease. With the addition of color-flow Doppler, deep venous thrombosis and ovarian or testicular torsion can be detected.

    3. Computed tomography (CT) is useful in assessing the brain for masses, bleeding, strokes, and skull fractures. CTs of the chest can evaluate for masses, fluid collections, aortic dissections, and pulmonary emboli. Abdominal CTs can detect infection (abscess, appendicitis, diverticulitis), masses, aortic aneurysms, and ureteral stones.

    4. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) helps to identify soft tissue planes very well. While this is not often the first test ordered, the family health care provider frequently obtains an MRI to help with the diagnosis of musculoskeletal or central nervous system conditions.

    5. Screening tests: A lipid panel can demonstrate the cholesterol level, including the low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels, which have prognostic significance in coronary heart disease; fasting glucose and thyroid tests may be important; in many centers, dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) is the test of choice to monitor bone mineral density; the mammogram is the examination of choice to screen for subclinical breast cancer; fecal immunochemistry testing, flexible sigmoidoscopy, and colonoscopy are used to screen for colon cancer.

Part 2. Approach to Clinical Problem-Solving

CLASSIC CLINICAL PROBLEM-SOLVING

There are typically four distinct steps that the family health care provider undertakes to systematically solve most clinical problems:

1. Making the diagnosis

2. Assessing the severity of the disease

3. Treating based on the stage of the disease

4. Following the patient’s response to the treatment

MAKING THE DIAGNOSIS

This is achieved by carefully evaluating the patient, analyzing the information, assessing risk factors, and developing a list of possible diagnoses (the differential). Usually, a long list of possible diagnoses can be pared down to a few of the most likely or most serious ones, based on the clinician’s knowledge, experience, assessment of the likelihood of having a condition (pretest probability), and selective testing. For example, a patient who complains of upper abdominal pain and has a history of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) use may have peptic ulcer disease; another patient who has abdominal pain, fatty food intolerance, and abdominal bloating may have cholelithiasis. Yet another individual with a 1-day history of periumbilical pain that now localizes to the right lower quadrant may have acute appendicitis.

ASSESSING THE SEVERITY OF THE DISEASE

After establishing the diagnosis, the next step is to characterize the severity of the disease process, in other words, to describe “how bad” the disease is. This may be as simple as determining whether a patient is “sick” or “not sick.” Is the patient with a urinary tract infection septic or stable for outpatient therapy? In other cases, a more formal staging may be used. For example, cancer staging is used for the strict assessment of extent of malignancy.

TREATING BASED ON STAGE

Many illnesses are characterized by stage or severity because this affects prognosis and treatment. As an example, a formerly healthy young man with pneumonia and no respiratory distress may be treated with oral antibiotics at home. An older person with emphysema and pneumonia would probably be admitted to the hospital for intravenous antibiotics. A patient with pneumonia and respiratory failure would likely be intubated and admitted to the intensive care unit for further treatment.

FOLLOWING THE RESPONSE TO TREATMENT

The final step in the approach to disease is to follow the patient’s response to the therapy. Some responses are clinical, such as improvement (or lack of improvement) in a patient’s pain. Other responses may be followed by testing (eg, monitoring the anion gap in a patient with diabetic ketoacidosis). The clinician must be prepared to know what to do if the patient does not respond as expected. Is the next step to treat again, to reassess the diagnosis, or to follow up with another more specific test?

Part 3. Approach to Reading

The clinical problem-oriented approach to reading is different from the classic “systematic” research of a disease. Patients rarely present with a clear diagnosis; hence, the student must become skilled in applying textbook information to the clinical scenario. Because reading with a purpose improves the retention of information, the student should read with the goal of answering specific questions. There are several fundamental questions that facilitate clinical thinking. These are the following:

1. What is the most likely diagnosis?

2. How would you confirm the diagnosis?

3. What should be your next step?

4. What is the best screening strategy in this situation?

5. What are the risk factors for this condition?

6. What are the complications associated with the disease process?

7. What is the best therapy?

WHAT IS THE MOST LIKELY DIAGNOSIS?

The method of establishing the diagnosis was discussed in the previous section. One way of determining the most likely diagnosis is to develop standard “approaches” to common clinical problems. It is helpful to understand the most common causes of various presentations, such as “the worst headache of the patient’s life is worrisome for a subarachnoid hemorrhage” (see the Clinical Pearls at end of each case).

The clinical scenario would be something such as this:

A 38-year-old woman is noted to have a 2-day history of unilateral, throbbing headache with photophobia. What is the most likely diagnosis?

With no other information to go on, the student would note that this woman has a unilateral headache with photophobia. Using the “most common cause” information, the student would make an educated guess that the patient has a migraine headache. If instead the patient is noted to have “the worst headache of her life,” the student would use the Clinical Pearl.

The worst headache of the patient’s life is worrisome for a subarachnoid hemorrhage.

HOW WOULD YOU CONFIRM THE DIAGNOSIS?

In the previous scenario, the woman with “the worst headache” is suspected of having a subarachnoid hemorrhage. This diagnosis could be confirmed by a CT scan of the head and/or lumbar puncture (LP). The student should learn the limitations of various diagnostic tests, especially when used early in a disease process. The LP showing xanthochromia (red blood cells) is the “gold standard” test for diagnosing subarachnoid hemorrhage, but it may be negative early in the disease course.

WHAT SHOULD BE YOUR NEXT STEP?

This question is difficult because the next step has many possibilities; the answer may be to obtain more diagnostic information, stage the illness, or introduce therapy. It is often a more challenging question than “What is the most likely diagnosis?” because there may be insufficient information to make a diagnosis, and the next step may be to pursue more diagnostic information. Another possibility is that there is enough information for a probable diagnosis, and the next step is to stage the disease. Finally, the most appropriate answer may be to treat. Hence, from clinical data, a judgment needs to be rendered regarding how far along one is on the road of

Frequently, the student is taught “to regurgitate” the same information that someone has written about a particular disease but is not skilled at identifying the next step. This talent is learned optimally at the bedside, in a supportive environment, with freedom to make educated guesses, and with constructive feedback. A sample scenario might describe a student’s thought process as follows:

1. Make the diagnosis: “Based on the information I have, I believe that the patient has a small bowel obstruction from adhesive disease because he presents with nausea and vomiting, abdominal distension, high-pitched hyperactive bowel sounds, and dilated loops of small bowel on x-ray.”

2. Stage the disease: “I don’t believe that this is severe disease as he does not have fever, evidence of sepsis, intractable pain, peritoneal signs, or leukocytosis.”

3. Treat based on stage: “Therefore, my next step is to treat with nothing per mouth, nasogastric tube drainage, intravenous fluids, and observation.”

4. Follow response: “I want to follow the treatment by assessing his pain (I will ask him to rate the pain on a scale of 0-10 every day), his bowel function (I will ask whether he has had nausea, vomiting, or passed flatus), his temperature, abdominal examination, serum bicarbonate (for metabolic acidemia), and white blood cell count and then reassess him in 48 hours.”

In a similar patient, when the clinical presentation is unclear, perhaps the best “next step” may be diagnostic, such as an oral contrast radiologic study to assess for bowel obstruction.

WHAT IS THE BEST SCREENING STRATEGY IN THIS SITUATION?

A major role of the family health care provider is screening for common and/or dangerous conditions where there may be interventions to alleviate disease. Cost-effectiveness, ease of the screening modality, wide availability, and presence of intervention are some of the important issues. The age, gender, and risk factors for the disease process in question play roles. In general, age is one of the most important risk factors for cancer. For instance, with breast cancer, an annual or biannual mammogram is recommended in women older than 50 years. This imaging technique is widely available, inexpensive, and safe and has been shown to decrease mortality. In the United States, screening examinations with strong evidence for effectiveness are fully covered by insurance.

WHAT ARE THE RISK FACTORS FOR THIS PROCESS?

Understanding the risk factors helps the practitioner to establish a diagnosis and to determine how to interpret tests. For example, understanding risk factor analysis may help in the management of a 55-year-old woman with anemia. If the patient has risk factors for endometrial cancer (eg, diabetes, hypertension, anovulation) and complains of postmenopausal bleeding, she likely has endometrial carcinoma and should have an endometrial biopsy. Otherwise, occult colonic bleeding is a common etiology. If she takes NSAIDs or aspirin, then peptic ulcer disease is the most likely cause.

WHAT ARE THE COMPLICATIONS OF THIS PROCESS?

Clinicians must be cognizant of the complications of a disease so that they will understand how to follow and monitor the patient. Sometimes, the student has to make the diagnosis from clinical clues and then apply his or her knowledge of the consequences of the pathologic process. For example, “A 26-year-old man complains of right lower extremity swelling and pain after a transatlantic flight,” and his Doppler ultrasound reveals a deep vein thrombosis. Complications of this process include pulmonary embolism (PE). Understanding the types of consequences also helps the clinician to be aware of the dangers to a patient. If the patient has any symptoms consistent with a PE, a ventilation-perfusion scan or CT scan with angiographic imaging of the chest may be necessary.

WHAT IS THE BEST THERAPY?

To answer the question of what is the best therapy, the clinician not only needs to reach the correct diagnosis and assess the severity of the condition, but also must weigh the situation to determine the appropriate intervention. For the student, knowing exact dosages is not as important as understanding the best medication, route of delivery, mechanism of action, and possible complications. It is important for the student to be able to verbalize the diagnosis and the rationale for the therapy. It is also important that the therapy choice takes into consideration patient beliefs and desires. Evidence-based medicine combines the best available evidence, the clinician’s experience, and the patient’s beliefs and values.

SUMMARY

1. There is no replacement for a meticulous history and physical examination.

2. There are four steps in the clinical approach to the family medicine patient: making the diagnosis, assessing severity, treating based on severity, and following response.

3. There are seven questions that help to bridge the gap between the textbook and the clinical arena.

References