More articles from Review
- Identifying serious causes of back pain: Cancer, infection, fracture
Most patients with back pain have a benign condition, but tumors, infections, and fractures must be considered during an initial evaluation because overlooking them can have serious consequences.
Congenital long QT syndrome: Considerations for primary care physiciansWe now know more about the genetic basis of different types of long QT syndrome and their clinical implications. In one type, patients can die suddenly during exercise, in another, during inactivity, and in a third, when startled, such as by an alarm clock. The right therapy can dramatically reduce the risk.
- Blood smear analysis in babesiosis, ehrlichiosis, relapsing fever, malaria, and Chagas disease
Blood smear analysis should be performed in patients with persistent or recurring fever, those who have traveled to the developing world, or those who have a history of tick exposure, especially if accompanied by hemolytic anemia, thrombocytopenia, or hepatosplenomegaly.
- From the Children’s Oncology Group
Children who undergo radiotherapy, chemotherapy, or surgery for cancer face a risk of complications later in life, including pulmonary fibrosis and pneumonitis. They need systematic, lifelong surveillance.
- Bacterial conjunctivitis: A review for internists
It is critical to differentiate bacterial conjunctivitis from other types of conjunctivitis and more serious vision-threatening conditions so that patients can be appropriately treated and, if necessary, referred to an ophthalmologist.
- Perioperative beta-blockers in noncardiac surgery: Evolution of the evidence
The pendulum of opinion is swinging away from routinely recommending beta-blockers to prevent cardiac events in surgical patients. We will probably be using them more selectively than in the past.
- Understanding current guidelines for colorectal cancer screening: A case-based approach
Fewer than half of the people in the United States who should be screened for colorectal cancer have actually been screened. But at the same time, many people who have low-risk findings on colonoscopy may be returning unnecessarily soon.
- Meta-analysis: Its strengths and limitations
Meta-analysis is powerful but also controversial, because several conditions are critical to a sound meta-analysis, and small violations of those conditions can produce misleading results.
- Movement disorder emergencies in the elderly: Recognizing and treating an often-iatrogenic problem
These problems often occur in patients with Parkinson disease or those taking antipsychotic or antidepressant drugs when their regimen is started or changed. Elderly patients are particularly at risk.
- Perioperative management of bariatric surgery patients: Focus on metabolic bone disease
Obese people are at risk of low bone mass to begin with, and bariatric surgery increases the risk. Primary care physicians play an important role in their preventive care.
