• Articles

    Preoperative Testing Before Noncardiac Surgery: Guidelines and Recommendations

    MOLLY A. FEELY, C. SCOTT COLLINS, PAUL R. DANIELS, ESAYAS B. KEBEDE, AMINAH JATOI, KAREN F. MAUCK

    Certain tests can be helpful to stratify risk, direct anesthetic choices, and guide post-operative management, but should not be performed when they are not medically necessary. The decision to order preoperative tests should be guided by the patient's clinical history,...

    Managing Difficult Encounters: Understanding Physician, Patient, and Situational Factors

    ROSEMARIE CANNARELLA LORENZETTI, C. H. MITCH JACQUES, CAROLYN DONOVAN, SCOTT COTTRELL, JOY BUCK

    Difficult clinical encounters can leave the physician and patient feeling frustrated. Contributing factors to difficult encounters may be related to the physician, patient, situation, or a combination. Recognizing these factors can lead to a more effective office visit.

    Evaluation of Occult Gastrointestinal Bleeding

    KATHY BULL-HENRY, FIRAS H. AL-KAWAS

    Gastrointestinal bleeding may be characterized as overt, occult, or obscure, with the source of bleeding not visible to the patient or the physician. This article reviews the possible causes of gastrointestinal bleeding; methods of investigation and evaluation are also discussed.

    AAFP News Now: AFP Edition

    AAFP News Now: AFP Edition

    Legislation Proposed to Eliminate SGR Formula and Boost Medicare Payments | Data Collection for Physician Payments Sunshine Act Begins in August 2013 | Practice Facilitators and Care Managers May Enhance Team-Based Care | CDC Provides Infographic on Pertussis

    Editorials

    Using Mindfulness Techniques to Improve Difficult Clinical Encounters

    OSMAN N. SANYER, KATHERINE FORTENBERRY

    Difficult clinical encounters add to other persistent sources of stress for physicians today, increasing the risk of burnout. Interventions focusing on mindfulness, or the ability to be purposefully attentive and present in every moment, are promising tools to help physicians...

    AFP Journal Club

    Does Screening Mammography Lead to Overdiagnosis of Invasive Breast Cancer?

    JILL ENDRES, MARK A. GRABER, ROBERT DACHS

    Implementation of a universal mammographic screening program leads to an increase in the diagnosis of invasive breast cancer, because of improved detection of clinically significant cancer and overdiagnosis.

    Putting Prevention Into Practice

    Menopausal Hormone Therapy for the Primary Prevention of Chronic Conditions

    AILEEN BUCKLER

    Case Study: A 59-year-old healthy, postmenopausal woman presents for a routine health maintenance visit. She has an intact uterus and no history of skeletal fractures. She asks if menopausal hormone therapy would help prevent chronic illness, specifically stroke and dementia.

    Photo Quiz

    Enlarging Mass on the Back

    TERRELL BENOLD, TONGNY WILFRIED FOADEY

    Photo Quiz presents readers with a clinical challange based on a photograph or other image.

    Clinical Evidence Handbook

    Kidney Stones

    TIMOTHY Y. TSENG, GLENN M. PREMINGER

    What are the effects of interventions for the removal of asymptomatic renal or ureteric stones? What are the effects of interventions for the management of acute renal colic?

    POEMs

    Daily Multivitamins Have Minimal, if Any, Effect on Preventing Cancer in Men and Do Not Affect Mortality

    DAVID SLAWSON

    Daily multivitamin supplementation results in a minimal, if any, reduction in epithelial cell cancers in men. This study found no significant benefit to multivitamin supplementation in reducing the risk of prostate, colorectal, lung, or bladder cancers. The risks of cancer...

    Practice Guidelines

    IDSA Releases Guidelines for Management of Acute Bacterial Rhinosinusitis

    MARA LAMBERT

    The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) has released a guideline for the management of acute bacterial rhinosinusitis in children and adults in the community or emergency department settings. Each recommendation includes a quality of evidence grade (i.e., strong or...

    U.S. Preventive Services Task Force

    Menopausal Hormone Therapy for the Primary Prevention of Chronic Conditions: Recommendation Statement

    The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends against the use of combined estrogen and progestin for the prevention of chronic conditions in postmenopausal women.

    FPIN's Clinical Inquiries

    Screening for Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Patients with Hepatitis C Virus Infection

    KELLY BOSSENBROEK FEDORIW, KATHERINE RICKETT

    There is no evidence that it is beneficial to screen for hepatocellular carcinoma in symptomatic patients with HCV.



    Disclosure

    All editors in a position to control content for this activity, AFP journal, are required to disclose any relevant financial relationships. View disclosures.


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