Practice Management
A 35-year-old male presents to urgent care complaining of pain over the metacarpal of the little finger after punching a wall in his home for reasons he chose not to explain. On exam, pain is evident with palpation at the base of the metacarpal. You note there is a deformity over the 5th metacarpal bone. The neurovascular status is intact. View the images taken and consider your next steps, along with possible diagnoses.
Read MoreCase A 30-year-old woman visited urgent care complaining of a burning sensation on her tongue. At first, she had blamed it on a spicy meal, but the feeling didn’t go away and now she feels as though she isn’t able to taste food as usual. Looking back, she recalls that over a month ago she noticed a white plaque on her tongue. However, that had had disappeared within a day so she hadn’t thought much …
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Case The patient is a 73-year-old male smoker who complains that he has had intermittent palpitations for the past 2 weeks. He denies chest pain, diaphoresis, fever, or dizziness. He uses home oxygen, 2 L/min, but denies any new shortness of breath. Upon exam, you find: General: Alert and oriented x 3 Lungs: Scattered minimal wheezing, which is symmetric Cardiovascular: Regular and tachycardic without murmur, rub, or gallop Abdomen: Soft and nontender without rigidity, rebound, …
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Case A 21-year-old male presents with pain after dropping a piece of furniture on his right foot. He is physically able to bear weight during the assessment, though his pain is evident and he is unsteady when shifting his weight to the injured foot. View the image taken (Figure 1) and consider what your diagnosis and next steps would be. Resolution of the case is described on the next page.
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A 51-year-old male presents to urgent care with wrist pain after stumbling while walking his dog. He recalls landing on his outstretched arm. On exam, there is pain with palpation, and decreased range of motion of the distal wrist. Neurovascular status is intact, and there are no breaks in the skin. View the image taken and consider your next steps, along with possible diagnoses.
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A new patient—a 45-year-old man who says he’s been plagued by midfoot pain for several weeks—presents to your urgent care center. The foot is normal in appearance, but it is evident that the patient has pain palpation over the midfoot. There is no pain with palpation over the plantar aspect. Skin does not show signs of infection. The neurovascular status is intact. View the image taken and consider your next steps, along with possible diagnoses.
Read MoreCase An 18-year-old woman was swimming in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida when suddenly she experienced a sharp, stinging pain on her arm. That evolved into a severe ache shortly, accompanied by a painful red lesion. She vomited on her way to your urgent care center, and still feels nauseous. She is also complaining of muscle cramps. View the photo and consider what your diagnosis and next steps would be. Resolution of …
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Case A 38-year-old female patient presents with acute shoulder pain following a fall on an outstretched arm during a spring skiing vacation. There is a normal appearance to the shoulder, but significant pain even with minimal attempts at range of motion. The clavicle and elbow are nontender. Neurovascular status is intact. View the image taken (Figure 1) and consider what your diagnosis and next steps would be. Resolution of the case is described on the …
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Case The patient is a 62-year-old woman who presents to the urgent care center after 1 hour of intermittent dizziness and feeling of palpitations. She has no chest pain, fever, vomiting, or diarrhea. Further history reveals that she has a history of anxiety, which is manifested by intermittent feeling of heart “palpitations.” Her primary care doctor is treating her with a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) for anxiety. Upon exam, you find: General: Alert and …
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A mother brings her 3-year-old daughter to your urgent care center, concerned about a rash that developed at the same time the girl started having a runny nose and low-grade fever, and became slightly lethargic. Now her cheeks are bright red, and she has a blanching macular rash that’s spread slowly from her extremities to her trunk. View the image and consider your next steps, along with possible diagnoses.
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