Table of Contents
In this Issue
Medical Grand Rounds
- Palliative care: Clinical approach to chronic pain and intestinal obstruction
Oral medications should control pain in up to 80% of patients with terminal cancer. Yet, many patients receive inadequate pain treatment.
- Evidence-based medicine in everyday practice
A step-by-step guide to using evidence to answer specific questions, with the answers guided by the patient's wishes and values.
1-Minute Consult
Should one routinely screen for lipoprotein(a)?The evidence does not yet justify screening everyone, hut you may want to obtain an Lp(a) level if the LDL level remains high despite statin therapy.
IM Board Review
- A 74-year-old woman with abdominal pain and fever
What is the likely cause of this patient's symptoms? A self-test on a clinical case.
Review
- Shortcomings of coronary angiography and their implications in clinical practice
Angiography is the gold standard for detecting coronary artery disease, but its results must be interpreted with caution. An accompanying illustration shows why.
Caring for Older Patients
- Hypertension in elderly patients: Treatment reduces mortality, but is underused
Despite compelling evidence that treatment reduces mortality, hypertension is undertreated, and especially so in older patients. A step-by-step approach, based on the latest recommendations from the NIH.
Review
- ‘Telephone treatment’ of uncomplicated acute cystitis
Most women with uncomplicated acute cystitis can be treated over the telephone, saving time and money.
Infectious Disease Alert
- Clostridium difficile diarrhea and colitis: A clinical overview
In hospitalized patients who have received antibiotics, toxin-producing strains of C difficile can play havoc.
