Clinical Feature Articles

Urgent Message: Urgent care centers can help prevent congenital syphilis by screening pregnant patients lacking prenatal records, confirming reactive point-of-care results, and administering penicillin when follow-up is uncertain. Amir Reza Tehrani, BS; Glenn E. Harnett, MD; Jeffrey D. Klausner, MD, MPH Keywords: syphilis screening; congenital syphilis; point-of-care testing; sexually transmitted infections; pregnant patients; urgent care; rapid diagnostics Abstract Purpose: The purpose of this review is to use clinical, operational, and economic evidence to support integrating rapid point-of-care syphilis testing in U.S. urgent care centers. Urgent care centers, despite becoming a …
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Urgent Message: The placebo effect can produce clinical manifestations of various disease states, particularly for pain. It has practical clinical implications for urgent care clinicians who routinely recommend oral medications for pain. Vinay Sharma, BS; Ariana M. Nelson, MD Keywords: acute pain; chronic pain; placebo effect; expectation; verbal suggestion; endogenous opioid signaling; dopamine signaling; placebo analgesia; medical ethics Abstract The placebo effect—the nonspecific beneficial effect of a medical treatment—involves complex psychological, biological, and physiological interactions. It was first described in the medical literature hundreds of years ago, with a definition …
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Urgent Message: Acute asthma exacerbations commonly present to urgent care, and providers must be well-equipped to recognize asthma exacerbations and be familiar with management recommendations. Samantha Shear, DO; Laura Calderon Suarez, MD; Maria Sara Valle Nodal, MD Keywords: pediatric asthma; asthma exacerbation; spirometry; inhaled corticosteroids; bronchodilator therapy; urgent care Abstract Overview: Asthma affects nearly 10% of children globally, with an estimated 95.7 million cases reported in 2021. This review discusses updates from the 2025 Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) guidelines, emphasizing diagnostic and management considerations relevant to the urgent care …
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Urgent Message: Abdominal and pelvic pain are common presentations to urgent care. Clinicians need to maintain a broad differential to make the correct diagnosis and offer appropriate treatment. Anisah Chauhdry, MS; Naushair Hussain, DO; Michael B. Weinstock, MD Keywords: pelvic pain; ectopic pregnancy; pelvic inflammatory disease; ovarian torsion; ovarian cysts; dysmenorrhea Editor’s Note: The patient case scenario is hypothetical to enhance educational value. Abstract Causes of abdominal and pelvic pain in reproductive-aged women include many diagnoses as well as some potential gynecologic emergencies. This review article highlights key gynecologic etiologies …
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Urgent Message: As shortness of breath and edema are common in pregnancy, urgent care clinicians must distinguish patients with normal physiologic changes from those with emergent conditions like venous thromboembolism, hypertension, eclampsia, and cardiomyopathy. John Ramos, MMS, PA-C, CAQ-EM Key Words: Ambulatory Care; Differential Diagnosis; Dyspnea; Pregnancy Complications; Pregnancy Complications, Cardiovascular Abstract Background: Physiologic changes in pregnancy contribute to shortness of breath and edema. However, these symptoms can also be caused by serious etiologies including venous thromboembolism (VTE) (increased risk in pregnancy and a leading cause of maternal mortality), preeclampsia …
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