Inspection
The patient may be in pain. Observe:
- position - in severe arterial insufficiency, the patient may only be comfortable sitting with the leg hanging over the side of the bed, gravity assisting blood flow
- areas of trophic change:
- skin discoloration
- hair loss
- fissured nails
- muscle wasting - e.g. quadriceps diameter 10 cm from the pubic tubercle
- venous guttering - more significant if present without raising the legs
- pressure necrosis, especially on bony prominences
Related pages
Create an account to add page annotations
Annotations allow you to add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation. E.g. a website or number. This information will always show when you visit this page.