Special - Your Doctor's Physical Exam May Be BS

The laying on of hands.

The stethoscope.

The “does it hurt when I press here.” We are all familiar with the physical exam a doctor does when investigating our symptoms.

But in the 21st century, with access to ultrasound and MRI, are these old-fashioned techniques still relevant or just cool parlour tricks?

Returning guest Niko joins Chris to discuss the evidence behind hands-on maneuvers taught to medical students to help diagnose a variety of conditions.

Warning: you may be shocked.

JAMA’s series on the Rational Clinical Examination: https://jamanetwork.com/collections/6257/the-rational-clinical-examination (4:44) Scenario #1: A torn meniscus or ligament in the knee Lachman test: https://www.physio-pedia.com/Lachman_Test McMurray test: https://www.physio-pedia.com/McMurrays_Test (17:20) Scenario #2: Carpal tunnel syndrome Tinel’s test: https://www.physio-pedia.com/Tinel%E2%80%99s_Test Phalen’s test: https://www.physio-pedia.com/Phalen%E2%80%99s_Test (24:29) Scenario #3: Meningitis Brudzinski’s sign of meningitis: https://medlineplus.gov/ency/imagepages/19069.htm Kernig’s sign of meningitis: https://medlineplus.gov/ency/imagepages/19077.htm (32:41) Scenario #4: Abdominal aortic aneurysm (38:13) Scenario #5: Pneumonia Whispered pectoriloquy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whispered_pectoriloquy (45:45) Scenario #6: Appendicitis McBurney’s point: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McBurney%27s_point Rovsing’s sign: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rovsing%27s_sign Psoas sign: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psoas_sign Obturator’s sign: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obturator_sign * Theme music: “Fall of the Ocean Queen“ by Joseph Hackl. * Assistant researcher: Nicholas Koziris To contribute to The Body of Evidence, go to our Patreon page at: http://www.patreon.com/thebodyofevidence/.

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