Biomedical subjects

Michael E Winters

Publications and source records attributed to Michael E Winters.

2 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Back pain emergencies.

Most adults in the United States will experience an episode of back pain at some point during their lifetime. Most will present to their primary care physician for evaluation and treatment. Many patients have non-life-threatening etiologies and recover within 4 to 6 weeks. A small percentage, however, have back pain due to a potentially life-threatening emergency. AD,rupturing AAA, SEM, cauda equina syndrome, vertebral osteomyelitis,and SEA are just some of the medical emergencies that can present with back pain. Clinical suspicion for these diagnoses begins with a thorough history and physical examination. It is imperative that the office-based physician search for and accurately identify any red flag within the history or physical examination. Appropriate laboratory studies and diagnostic imaging are obtained based on the suspected etiology.

Aortic Dissection↗

PubMed2006

Identifying chest pain emergencies in the primary care setting.

The majority of patients presenting to a primary care physician with acute chest pain will have non-life-threatening etiologies. Nevertheless, catastrophic cause of chest pain such as ACS, AD, PE, esophageal perforation, and pericarditis must be considered in the differential diagnosis. Often, these deadly conditions have atypical clinical presentations that must be recognized. Furthermore, the physical examination can be deceptively benign in patients harboring a catastrophic etiology of chest pain. By identifying these atypical presentations, recognizing the utility of the physical examination, and understanding of the limitations of traditional diagnostic imaging, primary care physicians can effectively diagnose patients who have life-threatening cause of acute chest pain.

Aortic Dissection↗