Breast clinic referrals: can mastalgia be managed in primary care?

Breast clinic referrals – should mastalgia be managed in primary care?

Background Following centralisation of breast cancer services in Ireland, the number of patients attending symptomatic breast units (SBU) has increased significantly. A considerable proportion of patients referred to SBU present with non-suspicious symptoms and fall into a “low-risk” category for breast cancer. It has been proposed that consideration be given to a GP-delivered service for these...

Can mastalgia be another somatic symptom in fibromyalgia syndrome?

OBJECTIVE The purposes of this study were to determine the coexistence of mastalgia and fibromyalgia, to investigate the effects of this combination on pain patterns, and to discuss the status of breast pain in the diagnostic algorithm of fibromyalgia syndrome. METHODS Sixty-one female patients reporting breast pain during the last three months and 53 female patients diagnosed with fibromyalg...

Can multiple choice be managed to constrain health care costs?

Can Kawasaki disease be managed?

Kawasaki Disease (KD) is the leading cause of acquired cardiovascular disease among children, but management of KD has received relatively little attention. In the US alone, about 5500 cases were estimated in 2009. KD is most common among Asian and Pacific Islander children but can affect all ethnicities and races. Timely and accurate diagnosis remains critical, but difficult: the etiology of K...

How many referrals to a pediatric orthopaedic hospital specialty clinic are primary care problems?

PURPOSE Many primary care physicians believe that there are too few pediatric orthopaedic specialists available to meet their patients' needs. However, a recent survey by the Practice Management Committee of the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America found that new referrals were often for cases that could have been managed by primary care practitioners. We wished to determine how many ...