Discuss About The Differential Diagnosis Process

Discuss the differential diagnosis (DD) process. Identify 3 different DD processes used in clinical practice. Describe the risks/benefits of these 3 processes.

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. Discuss About The Differential Diagnosis Process

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When possible evidence-based literature and primary sources that are up to date and are most desirable. Works such as WebMD and the patient “self-help” resources are not appropriate for graduate discussions.

The concept of differential diagnosis denotes that the clinician in every given circumstance will list a number of conditions that they think best explain the symptoms of a patient. Usually, this is done in the order of likelihood such that the most likely condition the patient may be suffering from comes first. This is normally referred to as the primary diagnosis. The rest then follow with the least probable condition coming last (Cook & Décary, 2019; First, 2022; Rafferty et al., 2014). The purpose of this paper is to explain what differential diagnosis is and also to look at the process itself as well as the different differential diagnosis processes normally used in clinical practice.

The differential Diagnosis Process

The differential diagnosis process involves the elimination but also grouping of conditions that possess the same pertinent positives and pertinent negatives. These are the symptoms or manifestations that either rule in or rule out a condition. The conditions that the clinician will end up with usually closely share similar presentations and that is why they are considered as possible alternatives to the primary diagnosis (Cook & Décary, 2019; First, 2022; Hammer & McPhee, 2018)Discuss About The Differential Diagnosis Process. The process by which the differential diagnoses are arrived at involves the meticulous and thorough collection of both subjective and objective data from the patient. Apart from history taking and physical examination therefore, diagnostic testing also plays a crucial role. This is where the patient’s samples such as blood samples are taken to the laboratory and tested for various disease indicators. Other diagnostic tests are radiologic examinations such as the chest X-ray and the ultrasound scan.

The steps involved in making a differential diagnosis list are history taking from the patient (subjective), physical examination of the patient (objective), and diagnostic testing (Cook & Décary, 2019; First, 2022; Rafferty et al., 2014). History taking will capture information such as the chief complaint (CC), the history of the presenting illness (HPI), the medical and surgical history, the social history, and the review of the different body systems amongst other areas. Physical examination is about taking the vital signs and then examining the systems that are suspect depending on the CC and HPI. Lastly, the diagnostic tests will include standard and other tests such as the full blood count, full metabolic profile, chest X-ray, and ultrasound amongst others.

Different Differential Diagnosis Processes

There are several different differential diagnosis processes used in clinical practice. Three of these are (Cook & Décary, 2019; First, 2022):

1. The chest process: this is the process that is based on the fact that the chest cavity can be affected by many symptoms that represent many different disease conditions. a good example is chest pain that may indicate acute coronary syndrome (myocardial infarction or angina) or pleuritic (Hammer & McPhee, 2018)Discuss About The Differential Diagnosis Process. The clinician will therefore use this process to ask many different questions related to the chest in a bid to rule out and rule in the different possible conditions.
2. The stroke process: The presentations of stroke are also shared by a number of other possible conditions. This is because they include numbness or extremities, loss of consciousness, disorganised speech, and so on. It is only by asking specific questions using this process that the clinician can rule in or out a condition.

• The headache process: Like the other two processes above, the headache process is also dependent on the fact that a headache can mean a variety of possible conditions. It can be both organic and inorganic and it is the responsibility of the clinician to ask pertinent questions.

The benefits of these processes include that they allow the clinician to touch on every aspect that a condition may present with. However, the risk is that these processes open a wide window for the inclusion of conditions that may be far from what the patient is actually suffering from. This may lead to misdiagnosis and death especially in conditions that are acute such as myocardial infarction or heart attack.

Conclusion

Differential diagnosis is the process of listing the possible conditions with the same presentations that the patient is showing. It is arrived at through history taking, physical examination, and diagnostic testing. A number of DD processes exist in clinical practice such as the chest process, the stroke process, and the headache process. All of them have risks and benefits Discuss About The Differential Diagnosis Process.

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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.

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