basics Flashcards
Diagnosis
An adequate clinical examination is central for the diagnostic process.
The purpose of the clinical examination is to detect the clinically significant abnormalities of function and to determine the body system involved.
Purpose of a diagnosis
- Being able to recommend a specific treatment
- To provide an accurate prognosis
- To make recommendations for cost effective control
- Prevention of new cases when group animals are at risk
Physical examination:
- Inspection
- Palpation
- Auscultation
- Percussion
- Smelling
- Measuring
Additional clinical examination:
Non-instrumental: biopsy, aspiration, diagnostic laparotomy, puncture Instrumental: X-ray, ECG, US, CT, MR
Clinical laboratory examination
Blood, urine, rumen-content, faeces, liquor, milk
Symptom:
Changes, which are observed by the owner → special group of symptoms together are highly specific for a disease
signs
Abnormal findings of the vet during the physical examination
- Specific (pathognomic) – non-specific
- Permanent - temporary
- Main – accessory
Diagnosis:
name of the disease
Inspection
- General body regions (skin, posture, behaviour, gait, condition)
- With the unaided eye
- With the aid of instruments (ophthalmoscope, otoscope, vaginoscope, penlight,
radiography, ultrasonography, endoscope) → Time and attention given
→ Good illumination
Palpation
- Direct – indirect
- Outside – inside
- Superficial – deep
- Alteration in: Location, shape, size, borders, surface, consistency, structure,
painfulness, movability, surroundings, covered skin, temperature - Ballotation (ballotation and auscultation)
- Undulation (tactile percussion)
Terms of consistency
Utrecht:
water in think plastic bag, putty, soft rubber, hard rubber, stone
Terms of consistency
Budapest:
fluctuating, doughy, firm (muscle-like or wood-like), hard (cartilage-like or bone- like), glandular, emphysematous (crackling)
Doughy:
pressure causes pitting which persist for a variable time as in oedema
Firm:
resistance to pressure is similar to that of normal liver
Hard:
the structure has a bone-like consistency
Fluctuating:
wave-like movement is produced in a structure by the alternating application of pressure
Emphysematous
the structure is enlarged and puffy and yields on pressure, it produces a crepitating or crackling sound due to the presence of air or gas in the tissue
Auscultation
Auscultation of spontaneous or artificially induced sounds Indirect (mediate) or direct (immediate)