(Snippets from the frontline)
Doctors are detectives
A patient was referred to the emergency room for a clot in his swollen left leg. The ER doctor and I agreed the patient could be discharged in a few days after thinning his blood.
Upon admission, my physical exam revealed swelling in the left and the right leg, so being suspicious, I ordered a CT scan of the abdomen which showed cancerous tumors in both kidneys.
A scan of his neck was done because of an atypical sound, with the reading by the radiologist stating it was a narrowed vessel. Visiting the x-ray department, and with three other doctor experts, further scrutiny revealed an aneurysm in the aorta. He was transferred to a teaching hospital where a new surgical technique was used to correct the problem.
After returning home, I saw the patient on a housecall because he felt poorly, and in the visit discovered a hospital computer glitch in the discharge paperwork medically overdosing the patient.
Recovering, and several surgeries after that, he was free of kidney cancer.
This is the benefit when doctors have time to be detectives.
Gene Uzawa Dorio, M.D.
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