151 articles
Head impulse test
The head impulse test, also called the head thrust test, is a bedside maneuver that assesses the vestibulo-ocular reflex to detect unilateral inner-ear balance dysfunction.
Heart auscultation
Heart auscultation, also called cardiac auscultation, is the physical examination technique of listening to heart sounds with a stethoscope to detect murmurs, gallops, friction rubs, clicks, and rhythm abnormalities.
Hemodynamic monitoring
Hemodynamic monitoring is the measurement of circulatory variables, chiefly blood pressure and cardiac output, to guide treatment in critically ill patients, using tools from cuff pressure to invasive catheters.
Impaired abstract thinking
Impaired abstract thinking (ICD-11 MB21.6) is a cognitive clinical sign of concrete, non-figurative reasoning, assessed in the mental status examination and WAIS Similarities, seen in dementias and schizophrenia.
Impedance myography
Impedance myography, also known as electrical impedance myography, is a noninvasive technique that passes a small electrical current through muscle to assess neuromuscular disease severity.
Indirect ophthalmoscopy
Indirect ophthalmoscopy is an eye examination technique in which a head-mounted instrument and a hand-held condensing lens give a wide, stereoscopic, inverted view of the retina.
Intermittent auscultation
Intermittent auscultation is a method of fetal monitoring during labor that listens to the fetal heart rate at set intervals with a Pinard stethoscope or handheld Doppler.
Invasive blood pressure monitoring
Invasive blood pressure monitoring measures arterial pressure continuously through a catheter in an artery linked to an electronic transducer, the reference method for major surgery, shock, and ICU care.
Joint cracking
Joint cracking (knuckle cracking, crepitus) is the pop from gas cavity formation in synovial fluid when a joint is stretched; harmless per studies, not linked to arthritis, ~20-minute refractory period.
Keratometry
Keratometry is an ophthalmic measurement technique that determines the curvature of the front corneal surface and converts it to dioptric power, mainly for contact lens fitting and cataract surgery.
Lachman test
The Lachman test is a knee examination maneuver that assesses the anterior cruciate ligament by pulling the tibia forward with the knee flexed 20 to 30 degrees.
Leopold's maneuvers
Leopold's maneuvers: four abdominal palpation steps (fundal, umbilical, Pawlik, pelvic grips) devised by Christian Gerhard Leopold to determine fetal lie, presentation, engagement, and weight; accuracy varies with examiner and maternal BMI.
LogMAR chart
LogMAR chart: eye chart with logarithmic letter-size progression, 5 letters per line, and letter-by-letter scoring, from Bailey–Lovie (1976) and the ETDRS chart (1982), the clinical-trial standard for visual acuity.
Mean arterial pressure
Mean arterial pressure (MAP) is the average arterial pressure over the cardiac cycle, estimated as 1/3 systolic + 2/3 diastolic. Key targets: 65 mm Hg in septic shock; ambulatory thresholds <90/90-92/≥92 mmHg.
Medical history
Medical history: the patient's account of symptoms, past illness, and circumstances elicited by clinicians. Rooted in Hippocratic case records, standardized by Osler at Johns Hopkins in 1893, and subject to measurable recall bias.
Mental status examination
Mental status examination (MSE): structured clinical assessment of appearance, behavior, speech, mood and affect, thought, perception, and cognition. Uses bedside tests and screens such as MoCA and MMSE; attention is tested first.
Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview
The Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) is a brief structured diagnostic interview for DSM-IV and ICD-10 psychiatric disorders, developed by psychiatrists in the United States and Europe and completed in about 15 minutes.
Modified Ashworth scale
The Modified Ashworth scale is a six-grade ordinal scale rating resistance felt during passive limb movement, the most widely used clinical measure of increased muscle tone.
Mouth assessment
Mouth assessment (oral examination, COE): systematic inspection and palpation of lips, mucosa, gingiva, tongue, floor of mouth, palate, teeth, and TMJ; detects mucosal lesions, systemic disease signs, and oral cancer, with biopsy for definitive diagnosis.
Murphy's sign
Murphy's sign, also called the sonographic Murphy sign, is inspiratory arrest on right upper quadrant palpation indicating acute cholecystitis; described by J. B. Murphy in 1903, specificity 79–96%, sensitivity about 65%.
Muscle Strength Dynamometer
Muscle strength dynamometer: device measuring isometric force of muscles or muscle groups, from 1763 spring devices to hand-held (HHD) and isokinetic dynamometry, the gold standard; HHD offers portable, valid, lower-cost clinical strength testing.
Musculoskeletal examination
The musculoskeletal examination is a clinical method in which a physician inspects, palpates, and moves the joints, muscles, and bones to detect abnormalities and diagnose musculoskeletal disorders.
Near visual acuity
Near visual acuity is the smallest readable print at reading distance (about 35-40 cm), tested with Jaeger, Rosenbaum, N-notation, or ETDRS near charts; Jaeger's 1854 Schrift-Scalen was the first standard, but Jaeger sizes were never defined.
Nine-hole peg test
The nine-hole peg test is a timed clinical assessment of fine finger dexterity that measures how quickly a person places and removes nine pegs, used widely in multiple sclerosis and stroke.
Nonspecific low blood-pressure reading
Nonspecific low blood-pressure reading is a clinical finding of a blood pressure of 90/60 mmHg or lower without a diagnosis of hypotension, coded R03.1 in ICD-10-CM.
Nutrition screening
Nutrition screening is a rapid clinical process that identifies malnourished or at-risk patients and decides who needs full assessment, required within 24 hours of hospital admission.
Ophthalmoscopy
Ophthalmoscopy (funduscopy) is examination of the eye's fundus, retina, optic disc, choroid, and vessels, by direct, indirect, or slit-lamp methods; invented by Helmholtz in 1850.
Optometry
Optometry is the eye care profession of examining eyes, diagnosing vision problems and eye disease, and prescribing corrective lenses; practitioners are optometrists (OD degree in the US), distinct from ophthalmologists, who are physician surgeons.
Oral Diagnosis
Oral diagnosis: dental specialty of identifying oral diseases via history, conventional oral examination (visual inspection and palpation), radiographs, and biopsy. COE shows 71-88% sensitivity for oral cancer; biopsy is definitive.
Orientation test
The orientation test is a bedside component of the mental status examination that probes a patient's awareness of person, place, time, and situation, documented as alert and oriented times three or four.