Volume 49 - Issue 12 - December 2009

<div id="article-content-body"> <p>Primary care physicians are called upon to assess risk in patients undergoing a variety of surgical procedures. In some ways, perioperative medicine...

To avoid causing any exacerbation of a skin tear or similar wound when changing a self-adherent soft silicone foam dressing, I draw an arrow on the dressing over the spot where the...

<p><span class="article-text"><span>When taking a patient’s sexual history, I find that the question “How many partners do you have?” rarely elicits a complete picture. Instead,...

To improve adherence in patients whose drug regimen calls for twice-daily dosing, I encourage them to keep the medication near their toothbrush.

<p>To help ensure that the annual foot examinations required in patients with diabetes are performed, we have a sign at the front of each examination room that says, “If you have diabetes, please take...

To enhance the efficiency of a subsequent office visit with a patient, make a list of action points for that next encounter at the end of your notes.

<p><span class="article-text"><span>Irrigating a child’s eye to wash out a toxic substance can be difficult. An effective way for a parent to do this is to put the child in the...

The multiple, symmetrically distributed, soft, nontender swellings on the shoulders and torso of a 56-year-old Hispanic man are characteristic of multiple symmetric lipomatosis (MSL), also known as Madelung...

<div id="article-content-body"><p><img src="http://www.consultantlive.com/image/image_gallery?img_id=1493615&t=1260207051072" width="150"...

<div id="article-content-body"><p><em>I read with interest Dr Adam Breinig’s Practical Pointer, “For Easier Pap Smears, Use a Condom” (CONSULTANT, August 2009, page 488). I agree...

<div id="article-content-body"> <p><em>Body mass index (BMI) facilitates meaningful comparison of the weights of children of varying heights. It is useful in population studies,...

<div id="article-content-body"> <p>In his Practical Pointer, “Take a Crack at Healing Fingertip Fissures” (CONSULTANT, March 2009, page 185), Ron Passeri, MD, recommended having...