"This volume of Lippincott's Primary Care Series will help family practitioners, internists, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants understand, diagnose, and treat the most common rheumatologic problems seen in the primary care setting. Emphasis on day-to-day practical outpatient office practice distinguishes this from the many existing rheumatology textbooks and it contains numerous images to aid in diagnosis and treatment. Whenever possible, chapters follow a consistent format with headings of Clinical Presentation, Examination, Studies, Treatment, Clinical Course, and Conclusions and box elements such as Introductory Case, Clinical Points/Highlights, Patient Assessment, Not to Be Missed, and When to Refer. Key points are provided for those topics that don't fit this format"--Provided by publisher.

"To meet the anticipated needs of the busy primary care clinician, this book is formatted to allow the clinician quick and easy access to reliable and practical information. The opening chapter focuses on the usefulness and pitfalls of the clinical presentation and physical examination; it describes a systematic yet efficient approach leading to the correct diagnoses of musculoskeletal disorders. The following chapters are organized by common clinical complaints of undiagnosed clinical problems like the painful knee, painful feet, neck or low back pain as well as common musculoskeletal diagnoses like osteoarthritis, gout or rheumatoid arthritis. The final chapters address special diagnostic and therapeutic considerations such as use of the laboratory, monitoring patients on disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs and arthrocentesis and injection"--Provided by publisher.