Differential Diagnosis Essay Paper

Differential Diagnosis Essay Paper

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General Response 1

A differential diagnosis is a second or third diagnosis made by the clinician in recognition of the fact that the presentation of the disease that he or she is seeing is similar to that of the differential diagnosis (Cook & Décary, 2019; First, 2022). History taking, physical examination, and diagnostic laboratory and other testing have traditionally defined the process of arriving at a diagnosis (Hammer & McPhee, 2018; Jameson et al., 2018)Differential Diagnosis Essay Paper. It is however the diagnostic testing part of the triad that may be critiqued. For instance, some laboratory tests have low validity and reliability and may mislead the clinician to diagnose a wrong condition or to miss the diagnosis altogether. One such laboratory test is the prostate-specific antigen or PSA. Clinically speaking, elevated levels of serum PSA levels usually mean the possibility of prostate malignancy that can therefore be confirmed by biopsy. To demonstrate its lack of reliance, only 30% of men found with the cut-off PSA level of 4 ng/ mL have prostate cancer on biopsy (Ball et al., 2019; Bickley, 2017). Risks include overdiagnosis, misdiagnosis, and unwarranted exposure to invasive procedures like biopsy taking.

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General Response 2

A number of differential diagnosis processes and steps are used in daily clinical practice. Three of these are the stroke process, the chest process, and the headache process (Cook & Décary, 2019; First, 2022). The problem with these processes is that they are not foolproof and are largely based on the clinician’s intuition and interpretation. This means there is no standard way of arriving at the same differential diagnosis by two clinicians using the same process. For instance, abdominal pain may be referred pain from a different part of the body but the clinician will interpret it as visceral pain (Hammer & McPhee, 2018; Jameson et al., 2018)Differential Diagnosis Essay Paper. The danger or risk with these faulty differential diagnosis processes is that a misdiagnosis may cause the real problem to advance to appoint where it leads to the mortality of the patient when discovered too late. The only benefit is that the process at least gives the patient the benefit of underlying problems being possibly discovered during the exercise.

References

Ball, J., Dains, J.E., Flynn, J.A., Solomon, B.S., & Stewart, R.W. (2019). Seidel’s guide to physical examination: An interprofessional approach, 9^th ed. Elsevier.

Bickley, L.S. (2017). Bates’ guide to physical examination and history taking, 12^th ed. Wolters Kluwer.

Cook, C.E., & Décary, S. (2019). Higher order thinking about differential diagnosis. Brazilian Journal of Physical Therapy, 24(1), 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bjpt.2019.01.010

First, M.B. (2022). DSM-5 handbook of differential diagnosis. American Psychiatric Publications.

Hammer, D.G., & McPhee, S.J. (2018). Pathophysiology of disease: An introduction to clinical medicine, 8^th ed. McGraw-Hill Education.

Jameson, J.L., Fauci, A.S., Kasper, D.L., Hauser, S.L., Longo, D.L., & Loscalzo, J. (Eds) (2018). Harrison’s principles of internal medicine, 20^th ed. McGraw-Hill Education.

Differential Diagnosis

A differential diagnosis is a second or third diagnosis made by the clinician in recognition of the fact that the presentation of the disease that he or she is seeing is similar to that of the differential diagnosis (Cook & Décary, 2019; First, 2022; Rafferty et al., 2014)Differential Diagnosis Essay Paper. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the differential diagnosis process as well as a few specific differential diagnosis processes.

The process

History taking, physical examination, and diagnostic laboratory and other testing have traditionally defined the process of arriving at a diagnosis. These therefore also remain the components of the process of arriving at a differential diagnosis (Hammer & McPhee, 2018; Jameson et al., 2018)Differential Diagnosis Essay Paper. History taking involves the collection of subjective information about and from the patient. It is realized during the interview with the patient. Physical examination is done after the subjective portion is done. It is about gathering objective information about the patient by physically examining them after getting informed consent from them. Lastly, ordering laboratory, radiologic, and other investigations is the other component of the differential diagnosis process.

Three Differential Diagnosis Processes

A number of differential diagnosis processes are used in daily clinical practice. Three of these are:

The stroke process: This process relies on the fact that the presentation of stroke mimics many other possible conditions. The process therefore involves ruling in and ruling out many of the conditions systematically (Cook & Décary, 2019; First, 2022).

The chest process: Like the above DD process, the chest process also banks on the fact that a variety of conditions can cause chest symptoms. These include chest pain, coughing, and shortness of breath amongst others (Cook & Décary, 2019; First, 2022).

The headache process: Headaches too may be an underlying symptom of several conditions. This process also uses the ruling in and ruling out criteria to arrive at a diagnosis and differential diagnosis (Cook & Décary, 2019; First, 2022)Differential Diagnosis Essay Paper.

Conclusion

After making a diagnosis, a clinician usually includes another two or three conditions that also present in a similar manner. These make up the differential diagnosis. Objective and subjective information as well as diagnostic testing are all components of making a proper diagnosis and differential diagnoses.

References

Cook, C.E., & Décary, S. (2019). Higher order thinking about differential diagnosis. Brazilian Journal of Physical Therapy, 24(1), 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bjpt.2019.01.010

First, M.B. (2022). DSM-5 handbook of differential diagnosis. American Psychiatric Publications.

Hammer, D.G., & McPhee, S.J. (2018). Pathophysiology of disease: An introduction to clinical medicine, 8^th ed. McGraw-Hill Education.

Jameson, J.L., Fauci, A.S., Kasper, D.L., Hauser, S.L., Longo, D.L., & Loscalzo, J. (Eds) (2018). Harrison’s principles of internal medicine, 20^th ed. McGraw-Hill Education.

Rafferty, A.T., Lim, E.K., Ôstôr, A.J.K., & (2014). Churchill’s pocketbook of differential diagnosis, 4^th ed. Churchill Livingstone.

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Please make a 2 general response regarding differential diagnosis with at least 150 words each response.
Responses to peers should include examples from your clinical setting and case studies from the literature to contribute to the discussion.
It is crucial to appropriately utilize APA 7th ed. All assignments; group work discussions and responses require accurate and appropriate APA citations. It is recommended to use nursing literature, medical literature and ancillary research in other disciplines as necessary. Current citations are required Differential Diagnosis Essay Paper