Journal of Urgent Care Medicine

Abdominal Pain in the Younger Adult: Let’s Not Forget Acute Diverticulitis

Urgent message: The differential diagnosis of abdominal pain is challenging because many symptoms and signs are nonspecific and because patients might often have concomitant medical conditions that could cause abdominal pain. Although diverticulitis is more common in older patients, failure to consider diverticulitis in the differential diagnosis of abdominal pain in the younger adult could lead to delayed diagnosis and undesirable complications. Fabrizia Faustinella, MD, PhD, FACP and L. Alexandre Frigini, MD Introduction Diverticular disease …

A 2-Year-Old Girl with Leg Pain After Jumping on a Trampoline

Case The patient is a 2-year-old girl who is brought to your urgent care center by her parents several hours after jumping on a trampoline with her friend, but that she “seemed fine” when the mother picked her up to come home. View the images taken and consider what the diagnosis and next steps would be. Resolution of the case is described on the next page. The Resolution Differential Diagnosis Acute transverse fracture of the …

Repetitive Motion Injuries: Urgent Diagnosis, Patient-Centered Management

Urgent message: Musculoskeletal disorders result in costly, disabling outcomes for Americans—causing significant economic impact (work-related injuries, early retirement, days away from work) and representing a leading cause of chronic diseases nationwide. Frequently, the initial treating facility, which determines if the injured/ill patient is capable of returning to work or needs time away from work or modified duty, is an urgent care center. Ashley Clay, MSPAS, PA-C INTRODUCTION An estimated one in two adults older than …

A 27-Year-Old Marathon Runner with Epigastric Pain

A 27-year-old woman who has been training for a marathon presents to the urgent care center with epigastric pain. She states the pain is worse after she consumes tomato sauce or orange juice, and wonders if she may have reflux. She denies shortness of breath, exertional component, pleuritic pain, leg swelling, use of hormonal therapy, or sweating. No right upper quadrant pain. Improves with antacids. No FH or heart disease or other risk factors. Upon …

A Construction Worker with Sudden Foot Pain After Stepping Into a Hole

Case The patient is a 45-year-old male construction worker who felt pain immediately after stepping down from a truck into a pothole. View the images taken and consider what the diagnosis and next steps would be. Resolution of the case is described on the next page. Figure 1.

A 9-Year-Old Girl with Sudden-Onset Sore Throat After a Meal

Urgent message: Sore throat and throat pain are common complaints in the urgent care setting. While infectious causes are the most common and the likely cause of the patient’s complaint, it is important to consider other causes. Linu Samuel, MD Introduction Sore throat and throat pain are common chief complaints across all ages in the urgent care setting. As clinicians who likely see these complaints multiple times a day, our differential diagnosis when walking into …

Top 5 Wilderness Medicine Topics for the Urgent Care Provider

A 43-Year-Old Man with Pruritic, Scale Plaque and Vesicles on His Hands and Arms

The patient is a 43-year-old man who presents to urgent care after work with an extremely pruritic fine scaly plaque and tense vesicles covering his hands and arms. He had been gardening the previous weekend, worked on his car, and prepared his boat for its first voyage of the season. He wasn’t sure which activity might have caused such a terrible rash. View the image and consider what your diagnosis and next steps would be. …

Abstract In Urgent Care-June 2019

Practice of Urgent Care: The Illusion of Multitasking and the Cost of Interruptions Key point: True multitasking is not possible. Rather, when we attempt to multitask, our brains are actually rapidly switching focus. Task-switching and interruptions negatively impact our ability to complete tasks accurately and effectively. Minimizing task-switching reduces the likelihood of cognitive errors and, consequently, adverse patient outcomes. Citation: Skaugset LM, Farrell S, Carney M, et al. Can you multitask? Evidence and limitations of …

Abstract In Urgent Care-May 2019

Mitigating Risk Through Shared Decisionmaking Key point: Shared decision-making appears to mitigate the risk to clinicians of patient complaints and lawsuits in the event of a bad outcome. Citation: Schoenfeld EM, Mader S, Houghton C, et al. The effect of shared decisionmaking on patients’ likelihood of filing a complaint or lawsuit: a simulation study. Ann Emerg Med. January 3, 2019. [Epub ahead of print] Missed and delayed diagnoses of dangerous conditions are unavoidable in …

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