Diagnostic test
Medical investigation is the sum of the diagnostic operations and procedures carried out by the physician, causing within the patient care. In the strictest sense, this is the so-called physical examination of the patient without aid or with just a few simple instruments such as stethoscope, reflex hammer or pupillary light.
In a broader sense, apparatus and laboratory procedures for medical examination to be expected, which is then referred to synonymously with diagnostics (see diagnosis).
Depending on the circumstance, the examination may be symptom- based pure if the other complaints at any given time are not relevant, or it can be a full body examination, eg in unknown patients.
Depending on the field of the examining physician he will concentrate on physical examination to certain organ systems, a general physical examination by any doctor is expected. Although the importance of purely physical examination is historically very large, but the medical findings allowed for many more accurate results. For example, it is very important to detect a heart murmur, but the exact cause of the noise is then determined, for example, with an ultrasound.
Physical (clinical ) examination
See Physical Examination.
Technical investigations
The physical examination may be extended by device- based procedures. These include methods such as
- Laboratory diagnostics,
- X-ray examination,
- Sonography,
- Scintigraphy,
- Endoscopy,
- Computer tomography,
- Magnetic resonance imaging,
- Electrocardiogram ( ECG),
- Sigmoidoscope,
- Pathology (biopsy and aspiration ).
Most of apparatus tests should not be ordered routinely, but rather in the individual case. In practice, a compromise is often necessary. Electrocardiography and some laboratory studies are reasonably priced so that they are carried out quickly and not very stressful, for certain patients also routinely.
Further studies need to be discussed in each case. The more expensive and burdensome they are, the higher the barriers to their use should be. You can serve the imaging, the function of individual organ systems check ( eg, lung function testing ), or both at the same time afford (eg, thyroid scintigraphy ). In cases of uncertainty is often a sampling (biopsy) from a diseased organ for histological examination necessary.
Selection of the appropriate method
Often compete with each other several investigation methods, such as computed tomography and ultrasonography of the abdomen in the diagnosis of gallstones. In such cases, according to the factors " strain on the patient ", " expressiveness" and "cost" are selected. The weighting of these factors is the subject of medical and social debates in the health of the industrialized countries.
- Diagnostics