Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Ten-Day Dry Cough in a 36-Year-Old Man

Case A 36-year-old man presents to an urgent care center with a dry cough that he has had for the preceding 10 days. He has mild dyspnea. He has no rhinorrhea, fever, chest pain, blood in the urine or stool, or lower-extremity pain or swelling. He has no history of previous illnesses. He smokes cigarettes, occasionally drinks alcohol, and has a remote history of intravenous drug use. View the image taken (Figure 1) and consider …

Clavicular Pain in a 23-Year-Old

Case A 23-year-old man presents to an urgent care with pain at the distal end of his left clavicle that began the previous day after he fell onto his left shoulder while mountain biking. His pain is constant and sharp and worse when moving his left arm and shoulder. He does not have fever, vomiting, chest pain, shortness of breath, or abdominal pain, and he has no head injury, no head or neck pain, and …

Facial Papules in an Adult

A 35-year-old man with a history of human immunodeficiency virus presents with smooth, skin-colored pearly papules with central umbilication on his cheeks, chin, and lateral neck. View the image taken (Figure 1) and consider what your diagnosis would be.

Painful Metacarpophalangeal Joint After a Skiing Fall

A 32-year-old man presents to an urgent care center with pain at the metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joint of the thumb, from an injury sustained the previous week when he was skiing and fell onto his hand with his thumb extended. The patient has pain at the MCP joint with range of motion, but he says that he does not have any numbness. He has no fever, no breaks in the skin, no wrist pain, and no …

Constipation in a 67-Year-Old Man

A 67-year-old man presents with constipation that has been present for the preceding 2 days. He reports that he has had constipation in the past that resolved with the use of over-the-counter stool softeners, but this therapy has not worked with this episode. He has generalized abdominal pain that was mild initially but increased over the preceding day, which prompted his visit to the urgent care center. He describes the character of the pain as …

Productive Cough and Chills in an Adult

A 37-year-old woman without a significant past medical history presents after 3 days of a cough that produces yellow sputum with some streaks of blood. She has not checked her temperature but says she has “felt warm” and has some chills. She does have associated shortness of breath, but she reports that she has not had chest pain, leg pain or swelling, sweating, or headache. She has a history of hypertension, and she takes an …

Knee Pain in an 8-Year-Old Boy

Case An 8-year-old boy presents to an urgent care center with left knee pain that he has had for 3 days. The pain is worse with walking, and his mother says that he has been limping and will not put full weight on the leg. He reports no trauma, fever, vomiting, or numbness. His mother reports that she has given him ibuprofen but that this has not relieved his pain. View the image taken (Figure …

Foot Injury in a Weekend Warrior

A 46-year-old weekend warrior presents to an urgent care center 3 hours after injuring his right ankle and foot while playing basketball. He reports moderate to severe pain over the lateral side of the ankle and foot, which started after he jumped for a rebound and came down on the foot while it was in plantar flexion and inverted. However, he can walk. He reports no paresthesia or pain at the midfoot or proximal fibula, …

Foot Pain After a Fall from a Ladder

A 38-year-old man presents to an urgent care center after falling from a ladder the same morning. He has pain in his right foot at the midaspect that is worse with movement through the range of motion. There is minimal associated numbness. There is no ankle pain, knee pain, fever, or vomiting. View the image taken (Figure 1) and consider what your diagnosis would be.

Heel and Ankle Pain in an Adult After a Jump from a Second-Floor Window

A 38-year-old man presents to an urgent care center and reports pain in his right heel and ankle that he describes as severe enough that he cannot walk on the foot. He says that the pain began the previous evening when he landed on the group after jumping out of a second-floor window on a dare. He has some minimal paresthesia, but he has no fever, vomiting, head trauma, head or neck pain, or chest …

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