Ambiguous abdominal pain: the lost art of physical examination

Importance Of Thorough Physical Examination: A Lost Art

Several recent studies have described a deterioration in physical examination skills among modern physicians. Reasons hypothesized for this change are improvements in technology and time constraints. Poor physical exam skills are a noteworthy threat to patient safety as they can lead to incorrect as well as missed diagnoses, causing delays in timely implementation of life-saving treatments. Her...

Interexaminer reliability in physical examination of pediatric patients with abdominal pain.

OBJECTIVE To test the interexaminer reliability of abdominal examinations performed by pediatric emergency medicine physicians and surgeons in an emergency department. METHODS A prospective cross-sectional study in which 3 different types of physicians (pediatric emergency department residents, pediatric emergency department attending physicians, and pediatric surgeons in training) independen...

Abdominal pain due to a lost guidewire: a case report

A lost guidewire is a hazardous, yet completely preventable, and rare complication associated with central venous catheter insertion. Here, we report a case of a lost guidewire in a patient presented with persistent abdominal pain. The guidewire was retrieved completely during a surgical operation after the diagnosis had been confirmed by radiologic studies. Following some tips during insertion...

Lost art of argumentation

In training to be physicians, medical students occasionally try their hand at structured debates over popular topics in medicine. These debating exercises highlight an important issue for physicians: we may be known for our smarts, but we are not always known for our stellar communication skills. Much of our job is made easier by the implicit trust patients irrevocably afford us, but what happe...

Prognostication: medicine's lost art.