Primary care physicians are increasingly called upon to identify and manage complex musculoskeletal issues in their patients. This second edition of Common Musculoskeletal Problems in Primary Care: A Handbook is an excellent point of care resource for health care providers to better diagnose and treat patients presenting with common musculoskeletal complaints. Each chapter in this book focuses on a specific joint or region and discusses anatomy, red flags, approach to the patient, common clinical presentations and management, and includes a flow diagram to help direct management and follow-up of a patient's problem. A number of important updates in the field have been addressed in this revised version, most notably the inclusion of information on meaningful use. Meaningful Use legislation requires that healthcare providers give documentation on diagnosis and treatment to every patient at the time of their evaluation and as such, each chapter of this revised edition includes patient instructions and education sections for clinicians. Updated algorithms and physical examination sheets are provided and are formatted to easily fit into an electronic medical record. Featuring a user-friendly approach and step-by-step guidelines for managing a number of common musculoskeletal conditions, this handbook is an ideal reference for medical students, primary care residents and practicing primary care providers alike.

This book is designed to act as an off-the-shelf guide to assist health care providers evaluating patients presenting with common musculoskeletal complaints in the primary care setting. The result of a $750,000 research grant that studied how comfortable primary care providers felt when treating musculoskeletal conditions, this book addresses the common finding that family physcians felt unprepared despite frequently seeing these types of complaints. Since the primary care physician operates in a different environment than an orthopedic surgeon, the approach to the patient presenting in the primary care clinic must also differ from the specialist's approach. This book has been divided into chapters covering major body regions and injuries, and each chapter includes: Red flags, which are conditions requiring immediate treatment and referral; basic anatomy of the body region; Clinical evaluation techniques and tear sheets for use during examination; Common clinical diagnoses; and disposition of the patient illustrated with helpful flow charts.