December 2025

Occurring during a wide range of activities, acute ankle sprains are one of the most common musculoskeletal injuries. Management includes joint protection, pain control, immobilization, early functional activity, and targeted exercises.

Neutropenia is a blood cell disorder with implications for infections and malignancies, and can indicate systemic illness. It can affect patients of all ages, and presentations range from asymptomatic to severely ill and requiring hospitalization.

When discussing cancer screening with older adults, clinicians should consider medical comorbidities, functional status, values and preferences, remaining life expectancy, and goals of care.

Late pregnancy bleeding, defined as any vaginal bleeding after 20 weeks' gestation, is associated with increased risk of cesarean delivery, preterm birth, neonatal intensive care unit admission, and intrauterine fetal demise. Emergent obstetric etiologies of late pregnancy…

Heel pain accounts for 2 million office visits annually. Magnetic resonance imaging is most accurate for the diagnosis of most causes of heel pain, with growing evidence for the clinical utility of point-of-care ultrasonography. Most patients improve with conservative treatment…

Cognitive testing with a validated screening tool, such as the Mini-Cog, should be used for the initial evaluation of patients with suspected dementia. A more detailed evaluation, including imaging and laboratory testing, should be performed when initial screening suggests…

First-person accounts from the front lines of family medicine.

As our 75th anniversary year comes to a close, we acknowledge the dedicated team of medical and professional editors, designers, and illustrators who bring AFP to life across our print and digital channels.

Blood pressure target should be a shared decision that balances benefits and harms and not based on nonfamily medicine specialist guidelines.

Key clinical questions and their evidence-based answers directly from the journal’s content, written by and for family physicians.

PPIs slightly reduce symptoms of dyspepsia and improve quality of life for people taking NSAIDs long-term compared with placebo. PPIs also decrease incident gastric and duodenal ulcers vs placebo. It is unclear if PPIs are effective for preventing gastric and duodenal ulcers…

Are behavioral and pharmacotherapy interventions effective for smokeless tobacco cessation?

A collaboration between AFP and the Lown Institute promotes a vision of delivering health care that is based on the evidence, balanced in its approach, and focused on the patient.

Consumer wearable devices, including those with the Samsung sleep apnea feature, cannot diagnose sleep apnea and are not intended to replace a formal diagnosis from a clinician. This technology is most useful in combination with validated OSA screening questionnaires to decide…

A red rating (no clear benefits) is assigned to acupuncture for procedural pain in newborns. Although it showed potential benefit compared with no treatment, it showed no benefit when compared with standard nonpharmacologic options.

Frailty scoring is recommended for adults older than 70 years hospitalized for hip fracture to aid in shared decision-making with patients and family members.

A 22-year-old man presented with a confluent, blistering rash on his torso.

A 47-year-old woman presented with a solitary raised lesion on her tongue that developed 1 week earlier.

How can patients with exertional dyspnea who are at risk of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction be identified?

POEMs

POEMs

POEMs

POEMs

The American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons has published guidelines on the diagnosis and management of hemorrhoids.

The Wilderness Medical Society published updated guidelines for prevention and treatment of heat illness.

Reply: Paige Moreland

Reply: Jeffrey D. Tiemstra

Letters

Ankle sprains are a common injury caused by a stretch or tear of one or more of the ligaments (tough bands connecting bones) that support your ankle. Most ankle injuries are caused by rolling or twisting the ankle. Symptoms include pain, swelling, change in color, and not being…

Neutropenia (noo-truh-PEE-nee-uh) means there aren't enough neutrophils in your blood. Neutrophils are white blood cells. They help your body fight germs and infections. Most people with neutropenia do not know they have it. Some get sick more often or have sores in their mouths.

Inconsistent definitions of prematurity based on gestational age. “Outpatient Care of the Premature Infant” (August 2025, p. 153) defined subcategories of preterm birth using inconsistent terminology and time frames in the article text and Table 1. The online version of the…

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