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Flashcards in Introduction Deck (10)
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1
Q

Purpose of a physical exam

A
  • objective assessment of health
  • guides your evaluation of the patients symptoms
  • confirms or refutes suspected diagnoses
  • allows measurement of progress
2
Q

four components of a physical exam

A
  1. inspection
  2. percussion
  3. palpation
  4. auscultation
3
Q

inspection

A
  • always comes first
  • avoid “tunnel vision”
  • cultural bias and sensitivity
  • document using standard medical terminology
4
Q

percussion

A
  • a technique of tapping one finger sharply against another to produce resonance
  • pitch of this changes with density of underlying structures
  • used to determine size of solid organs or identify abnormal findings (masses, consolidation, etc.)
5
Q

Tricks to good percussion

A
  • make firm contact against patient’s skin
  • keep tapping finger stiffly bent
  • whip tapping wrist like a hammer
  • don’t hit yourself with fingernail
6
Q

palpation

A
  • assess for tenderness
  • assess for involuntary guarding/rigidity
  • feel edges of solid structures
  • feel consistency of structures
  • feel temperature, texture, and turgor of skin
  • generally comes last
  • slow circular gestures
7
Q

Stethoscope

A
  • born out of victorian modesty

- isolates and amplifies sounds

8
Q

diaphragm of stethoscope

A

side of the instrument used for high-pitched sounds

9
Q

bell

A

side of instrument used for low-pitched sounds

10
Q

Documentation of findings

A
  • OBJECTIVE descriptions
  • NEVER “normal” or “good”
  • use medical terminology, not patients words
  • use consistent head-to-toe order for consistency and standard charting