Differential Diagnosis In Surgery

Quick Overview

In clinical medicine, sins of omission are more common than sins of commission. It is the disorders one does not think of and the conditions one forgets that leads to misdiagnosis or no diagnosis. This book aims to help the medical student and clinician to be sure that he has considered all the disorders that might lie behind his patient?s particular symptoms or physical signs.

Key Features

• This book comprises 15 chapters that consider the differential diagnosis of signs and symptoms related to surgery; namely, swellings, organomegaly, lymphadenopathy, ulcers, pain, dyspepsia, dysphagia, constipation, bleeding, urine retention, swollen limb, gangrene, testicular atrophy, impotence, and gynecomastia.
• How to reach diagnosis using history taking, physical examination, and appropriate investigations, with the possible differential diagnosis in mind is clearly presented and illustrated in this book.
• Bibliography is also provided for further reading.
• Organized based on physical findings such as “swelling” or “jaundice,” the book is successful in focusing less on an organ system approach or treatment and more on the characteristics that help differentiate various pathologies from one another. This is the strength of the book — it teaches readers to develop a differential diagnosis and apply medical knowledge to help discern which disease best fits the physical findings. Excellent pictures and charts, when appropriate, assist in this effort. This manual is very faithful to its goal, and there are no real weaknesses or shortcomings.
• However, readers should not open the book hoping for information on the treatment or expected outcomes of the variety of diseases discussed. This book helps to diagnose pathologies based on physical findings and it does this one thing well, but it offers little else to clinicians.