• Articles

    Acute Appendicitis: Efficient Diagnosis and Management

    Matthew J. Snyder, Marjorie Guthrie, Stephen Cagle

    Appendicitis is one of the most common causes of acute abdominal pain in adults and children, and the most common nonobstetric surgical emergency during pregnancy. Right lower quadrant pain, abdominal rigidity, and periumbilical pain radiating to the right lower quadrant are...

    Allergy Testing: Common Questions and Answers

    Ku-Lang Chang, Juan Carlos Guarderas

    Clinical presentations of allergic diseases, respiratory infections, and autoimmune conditions have similar features. Allergy and immunologic testing can help clarify the diagnosis and guide treatment. For patients with an inhalant allergy, skin and immunoglobulin E–specific...

    Evaluating Medical Decision-Making Capacity in Practice

    Craig Barstow, Brian Shahan, Melissa Roberts

    Medical decision-making capacity is the ability of a patient to understand the benefits and risks of, and the alternatives to, a proposed treatment. Patients have medical decision-making capacity if they can demonstrate understanding of the situation, appreciation of the...

    AAFP News Now: AFP Edition

    AAFP News: AFP Edition

    AAFP Joins Partnership to Empower Physician-Led Care | Family Physicians Speak to Legislators About Fixing Health Care System | HealthLandscape Introduces Population Health Profiler | AAFP Joins Medical Groups Calling for Less Nicotine in Cigarettes

    Editorials

    Short Courses of Oral Corticosteroids: Lack of Benefit and Potential Harms for Common Acute Conditions

    Mark H. Ebell

    A short course of oral corticosteroids is appropriate for many patients with specific conditions. However, widespread use of corticosteroids in patients with non-pneumonia lower respiratory tract infection, nonsevere sore throat, or low back pain is inappropriate and not...

    Cochrane for Clinicians

    Procalcitonin to Guide Antibiotic Therapy in Acute Respiratory Infections

    Christopher E. Jonas, Francesca Cimino, Chad Hulsopple

    Procalcitonin-guided antibiotic therapy, when compared with routine treatments, results in decreased mortality in patients with acute respiratory infections (absolute risk reduction [ARR] = 1.4%; number needed to treat [NNT] = 71).

    Individual Behavioral Counseling for Smoking Cessation

    Elizabeth Salisbury-Afshar

    Individual behavioral counseling conducted by a trained therapist provides some benefit when compared with brief counseling and support; however, this benefit is less pronounced in the context of pharmacotherapy.

    Medicine by the Numbers

    Nebulized Hypertonic Saline for Bronchiolitis

    Gholamreza Roodsari, Shahriar Zehtabchi

    Despite reported benefits associated with the use of hypertonic saline for bronchiolitis, we have chosen a yellow recommendation because the more recent trials and systematic reviews have shown either much smaller effect size or no benefit at all compared with the older...

    Photo Quiz

    Asymptomatic Hyperpigmented Iris Lesion

    Matthew Hawks, Charlie Collenborne

    A seven-year-old girl presented with an asymmetric, hyperpigmented lesion that was isolated to the iris of her left eye.

    FPIN's Help Desk Answers

    Effects of Prenatal Yoga on Labor Pain

    Rebekah Byrne, Edwin Dennard

    Participation in a prenatal yoga program may help reduce labor pain, but reported effects vary from modest to moderate.

    Staples vs. Sutures After Cesarean Delivery

    Kinder Fayssoux, Ruyam Mahmood, Jenna Grindle, Scott Nass

    Patients believe that staples and subcuticular sutures provide similar cosmetic outcomes after cesarean deliveries. However, the risk of wound complications (e.g., infection, separation, hematoma, seroma) is doubled with staples.

    Curbside Consultation

    The Doorknob Phenomenon in Clinical Practice

    Justin Faden, Gregg Gorton

    By definition, the doorknob phenomenon or doorknob statement occurs when patients wait until the last moment in the clinical encounter—often while the physician is grasping the doorknob to exit the examination room—to utter something that, not uncommonly, provides crucial...

    POEMs

    Surgery Equal to No Surgery for Patients with Subacromial Shoulder Pain

    Henry C. Barry

    In patients with subacromial shoulder pain of at least three months' duration who receive physical therapy, surgical decompression is no better than arthroscopy without decompression in improving pain or function, and neither is much better than no invasive intervention at all.

    Statins Effective for LDL 190 mg per dL or Higher, Regardless of Risk Level

    Mark H. Ebell

    These results confirm that the use of statins for men with an LDL cholesterol level of at least 190 mg per dL, regardless of calculated risk, is associated with a clinically and statistically significant reduction in cardiovascular events and probably cardiovascular and all...

    PCI Equal to Sham PCI for Exercise Tolerance in Patients with Stable Angina Plus Severe CAD

    Henry C. Barry

    In patients with stable angina and severe coronary artery disease (CAD), PCI plus optimal medical treatment does not improve exercise tolerance or angina more than sham PCI plus optimal medical treatment.

    Short Courses of Antibiotics as Effective as Longer Courses for Outpatient Infections

    Mark H. Ebell

    Just about every time someone asks, “Can I get away with a shorter course of antibiotics,” the answer is, “Yes, you can.” Shorter courses reduce cost and may reduce the likelihood of adverse events.

    Practice Guidelines

    Bleeding with Anticoagulants: ACC Releases Expert Consensus Decision Pathway to Guide Management

    Lisa Hauk

    This Expert Consensus Decision Pathway from the American College of Cardiology (ACC) aims to provide physicians with decision-making assistance for managing bleeding events in patients taking anticoagulants.

    Letters to the Editor

    Tips for Facilitating Lifestyle Changes in Low-Income Communities

    Ketogenic Diet an Option for Treating Uncontrolled Epilepsy



    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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