Medical Problems

OVERVIEW

This page is dedicated to organizing medical information by the “medical problems” experienced by the patient. While this may seem an odd term to use, in reality by definition all patients must have at least one “medical problem” otherwise they would cease to be patients! The more one practices medicine the more they realize that these medal issues really are the building blocks of medicine, as they guide most everything that is done clinically.

Because the term “medical problems” is a broad one…we must try and further specify what exactly falls under this umbrella term.

• Chief Complaints
• Medical Terms
• Physical Exam Findings
• Study/Test Findings

For the sake of practicality, the “medical problems on this page are organized by specialty:

• Medicine 
• Surgery
• Neurology
• Psychiatry
• OBGYN
• Pediatrics 

MEDICAL PROBLEMS IN INTERNAL MEDICINE

Classic Chief Complaints:

• Chest pain
• Epistaxis
• Shortness of breath
• Vertigo (dizziness)
• Dyspnea (difficulty breathing)
• Palpitations
• Palpable breast mass

Pseudo-Chief Complaints:

• Arthritis
• Hematuria
• Urethritis

Non-Chief Complaints:

Vital sign abnormalities:

• Hypertension

Electrolyte abnormalities:

• Magnesium: hypomagnesemia, hypermagnesemia
• Calcium: hypocalcemia, hypercalcemia
• Sodium: hyponatremia, hypernatremia
• Potassium: hypokalemia, hyperkalemia
• Phosphate: hypophosphatemia, hyperphosphatemia

Other serum abnormalities:

• Hyperbilirubinemia (neonatal)
• Elevated Liver Enzymes Over 1000

Renal Issues:

• Acute Kidney Injury (AKI)
• Proteinuria

MEDICAL PROBLEMS IN SURGERY

Classic Chief Complaints:

• Abdominal pain

Pseudo-Chief Complaints:

• Jaundice
• Oliguria

MEDICAL PROBLEMS IN  NEUROLOGY

Classic Chief Complaints:

• Back pain
• Diplopia
• Headache
• Incontinence
• Facial droop
• Vision Loss

Pseudo-Chief Complaints:

• Delirium
• Dementia
• Seizures
• Bell’s Palsy

Non-Chief Complaints

• Ophthalmoplegia (abducens nerve palsy)

MEDICAL PROBLEMS IN PSYCHIATRY

Classic Chief Complaints:

• Feeling depressed

Pseudo-Chief Complaints:

• Psychosis

MEDICAL PROBLEMS IN OBGYN

Classic Chief Complaints:

• Hairiness In Females
• Female Infertility

Pseudo-Chief Complaints:

• Abnormal Uterine Bleeding (AUB)
  • Ovulatory Dysfunction: (Polymenorrhea,
• Amenorrhea (primary amenorrhea, secondary amenorrhea)
• Hirsutism
• Post menopausal bleeding
• Vaginitis

Non-Chief Complaints:

• Hypertension during pregnancy (first trimester, second trimester, third trimester)

MEDICAL PROBLEMS IN PEDIATRICS

Classic Chief Complaints:

• Otalgia
• Pediatric rash
• Vomiting (vomiting in infants)

Pseudo-Chief Complaints:

• Failure to thrive
• Pediatric fever
• Precocious puberty

Non-Chief Complaints:

Physical Exam Findings:

• Jaundice in the newborn baby
• Exudative tonsilitis

MEDICAL PROLEMS IN ONCOLOGY

Hematological Malignancies

• Leukemia
• Lymphoma

GI Malignancies:

• Colon cancer

Other Malignancies:

• Breast cancer