9 - Rheumatology Histories and Exams Flashcards
What are the main symptoms of rheumatological disease?
- Pain
- Swelling
- Stiffness
- Fatigue
- Weakness
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What questions do you need to ask in the history if someone is complaining of pain?
What?
Why?
When?
How bad?
Where?
Who? (patient’s social support, mental health etc)
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Why do many patients with arthritis develop chronic pain?
Central sensitisation of pain processing cells in dorsil horn
Pain can come from synovium, joint capsule, subchondral bone, peri-articular muscle
How can you tell if pain is articular or peri-articular in origin?
If peri-articular usually only triggered by certain movements but articular is all movements
e.g Tennis elbow pain is felt on resisted wrist extension
How can the pattern of pain in joints help to make a diagnosis?
Certain rheumatological diseases have characteristics that make them more likely
e.g if the spine is involved not likely to be RA, more likely to be ankylosing spondylitis
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What are some causes of acute and chronic monoarthritis?
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What are some causes of acute and chronic polyarthritis?
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What are the differentials for arthritis of the DIPJs?
- OA (most common cause and often Herbeden’s nodes)
- Psoriatic arthritis (will be nail dystrophy)
When a patient presents complaining of stiffness, what are some questions you need to ask?
Stiffness is a feeling of difficulty moving a joint
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- Early morning stiffness? (> or < 30 minutes)
- Generalised or loalised?
- Worse after resting?
When a patient presents with joint swelling, what are some questions you need to ask?
- How rapidly did it come on?
- How long goes the swelling last?
- Does the swelling occur parallel to joint line indicating true joint swelling or does it cross the joint line?
- Is the swelling bony?
- Does the swelling extrude any material?
Fill in this table to distinguish the differences between mechanical and inflammatory diseases.
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After taking a history of the presenting complaint, what other areas of the history do you need to explore?
ALWAYS CHECK EXTRAARTICULAR SYMPTOMS
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What are constitutional symptoms?
Symptoms that are not disease specific e.g fever, weight loss, fatigue, and lymphadenopathy but can indication underlying inflammatory disease, infection or neoplasia
Common in: AS, Primary vasculitis, GCA
Uncommon in: RA and PsA. SLE has fever but not others
What rheumatological diseases are the following extra articular symptoms and signs associated with?
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What rheumatological diseases are the following extra articular symptoms and signs associated with?
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What are the basics of an MSK exam?
- Introduction
- GALS
- Look
- Feel
- Move (Active and Passive)
- Special tests
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How do you perform a GALS assessment?
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- Introduction and gain consent
- Screening questions
- Gait
- Arms
- Legs
- Spine
- Regional exam of a joint if any problem detected
- Thank patient and ask if they need any help dressing
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How do the following gaits present?
- Antalgic
- Trendelenberg
- Sensory ataxia
- Cerebellar ataxia
- Hemiplegic
- Festinant
- Waddling
- Psychogenic
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