DIALOGUE

[doctor] hey gabriel i'm doctor scott good to see you today i know you've heard about dax is it okay if i tell dax a little bit about you
[patient] sure
[doctor] okay so gabriel is a 43 -year-old male today here for back pain evaluation and also has a past medical history of diabetes high blood pressure and high cholesterol so gabriel tell me what's going on with your back
[patient] well i was working in the yard and you know bent over to pick something up and i got this pain and you know across the lower part of my back and then it went down my left leg and you know it's been going on for about four days and just does n't seem to be getting any better
[doctor] okay are you a big gardener or this is something that you just started working in the yard
[patient] yeah i know my wife held a gun to my head make me go out there work in the yard and carry some stuff around it's not my not my first choice but
[doctor] sure sure
[patient] but that day i i lost the i lost the argument
[doctor] yeah yeah that happens to all of this so when this back pain happened so it was basically you were lifting you were bending down to lift something up and you had the sharp pain going down your right leg you said
[patient] left leg
[doctor] left leg okay got it sorry and any weakness or numbness in your legs or just the pain mostly
[patient] in in certain positions i get some tingling but no mostly just pain
[doctor] okay and any loss of bowel or bladder function at all or anything like that
[patient] no
[doctor] okay and have you had any back surgeries or back problems in the past or this is kind of the first time
[patient] no surgeries you know i've i've had back pain occasionally over the years
[doctor] okay have you had any any have you tried anything for pain for this have you tried any any medications at all
[patient] i've had ibuprofen it it helped some
[doctor] okay got it alright well i'll i'll examine you in a second but before we do that let's talk about some of the other conditions that we're kinda following you for i'm looking at your problem list now and you've got a history of diabetes and you're on metformin five hundred milligram twice a day and your how are you doing with your blood sugars and your and your diet and exercise
[patient] yeah i i check my sugar two or three times a week most of the time it's in that one twenty to one forty range
[doctor] okay
[patient] yeah i take my medicine okay my diet is alright you know i could be fifteen pounds lighter that would be alright but
[doctor] sure
[patient] i i i think the sugar has been okay
[doctor] okay we checked your hemoglobin a1c last time i'm looking at your records in epic and it showed that it was you know seven . one so it's it's it's good but it could be better any you know we talked about it controlling your diet or improving your diet and trying to have a balanced meal and not eating some of these sweets and high sugar items how is that going i know you had talked about your wife being a great cook and making cookies and that's hard to stay away from obviously how are things going with that
[patient] yeah she still makes cookies and i still eat them but you know we are trying to trying to do better trying to stay away from more of those carbs and focus on you know less carby less sweet stuff
[doctor] okay alright yeah that's always a struggle i certainly understand but you know really important with your diabetes just to prevent some of the complications like kidney failure and eye problems and just keep your sugar under balance so i'll order another hemoglobin a1c today we'll check that again today and and you know just reemphasizing the controlling your diet and exercise is super important and then we'll have those results back we'll we'll see if we need to make any modifications okay
[patient] okay
[doctor] for your high blood pressure your blood pressure in the clinic looks pretty good it's about one twenty over seventy right now we have you on norvasc five milligrams once a day how are things going with that are you are you checking that periodically or any issues with that at all
[patient] yeah i guess i check it maybe once a week or two or three times a month and it it the vast majority of the time when i check it it's good usually either that one twenty to one thirty over seventy to eighty range i i think the blood pressure's okay
[doctor] okay
[patient] i have n't had any real problems there i i have had some some swelling in my ankles though
[doctor] okay is that new or is that been going on for a while
[patient] well it it started maybe i do n't know a month or two after i started the norvasc
[doctor] okay
[patient] and i was just wondering if the two might be related
[doctor] yeah i mean certainly it could be it is you know sometimes that medication can cause that so i'll i'll examine you in a second and see if we need to make any modifications okay
[patient] okay
[doctor] alright so and your anything else bothering you today
[patient] no i'm we're doing okay i think
[doctor] so let me examine you for a second i'm gon na go ahead and gabriel i'm gon na do my magic exam now let's pretend i i'm just gon na verbalize some of my findings as i do my exam and so
[patient] these are like my video visit exams
[doctor] exactly so your neck exam has no jvd there is no bruits that i can hear your lung exam no rales no wheezing on your heart exam you do have a two over six systolic ejection murmur you had that in the past so i'm not too worried about that otherwise regular rate and rhythm on your heart exam on your on your on your belly exam is nice and soft on your back exam you do have some tenderness on the left paraspinal area right where i'm pressing right there your straight leg raise test is negative your reflexes are normal you have some just some tenderness in the lower back in the paraspinal area of your back when i palpate there otherwise your neurological exam is normal on your extremity exam you do have this one plus nonpitting edema of your lower extremities which is a little bit of swelling in your ankles no calf tenderness negative homans sign no signs of blood clot that's what that means so let me just review what you know explain what all this means so the back pain the first problem that you're here today for i think this is more of a muscular sprain i'm gon na recommend we start you on some anti-inflammatory naprosyn five hundred five hundred milligrams twice a day and flexeril ten milligrams twice a day as well i'm gon na refer you to for for physical therapy to help strengthen some of the muscles in your lower back i do n't think you need an x-ray at this stage why do n't we start with physical therapy and the muscle relaxers and the pain medicines if it does n't get better then we can get an x-ray but right now i would start with that if that's okay with you any questions about that
[patient] no
[doctor] okay for the diabetes the the second problem that we talked about today i'm gon na order another hemoglobin a1c continue the metformin five hundred milligrams twice a day why do n't we have you come back in about two weeks and we should have some of the results back and we can discuss if we need to make any modifications for that but right now we will continue the course and we will go from there okay for the high blood pressure you do have this one plus edema in your legs i'm gon na go ahead and order some blood work today i'm gon na go ahead and stop the norvasc and we'll put you on some hydrochlorothiazide ten milligrams once a day and if that does n't get if the swelling does n't go away i'm gon na do some more testing for right now let's get some sort off with some cbc and a bmp i'm gon na check your kidney function i'm gon na get another ekg and also i'm gon na get a chest x-ray and we'll go from there but hopefully this will go away once we stop this medication since it started around that time okay okay and i think that's it anything else we forgot about do you need refills for anything
[patient] no i i think i'm okay you gave me a year's worth of refills last time we were together
[doctor] okay sounds great alright thanks gabriel good seeing you again
[patient] good to see you thanks

CLINICAL NOTE

CHIEF COMPLAINT

Back pain evaluation.

MEDICAL HISTORY

The patient has a history of diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol.

SURGICAL HISTORY

He denies previous back surgeries.

MEDICATIONS

The patient currently utilizes metformin 500 mg twice daily and Norvasc.

REVIEW OF SYSTEMS

Cardiovascular: Reports ankle swelling.
Musculoskeletal: Reports lower back pain.
Neurological: Reports tingling in left leg. Denies weakness or numbness in legs, or loss of bowl or bladder function.

PHYSICAL EXAM

Neurological
- Orientation: Alert and oriented x3. Cranial nerves grossly intact. Normal gait.

Neck
- General Examination: No JVD. No bruits.

Respiratory
- Auscultation of Lungs: No wheezes, rales.

Cardiovascular
- Auscultation of Heart: Regular rate and rhythm. 2/6 systolic ejection murmur. Otherwise, regular rate and rhythm.

Musculoskeletal
- Examination: Tenderness on the left paraspinal area. Straight leg raise test is negative. Reflexes are normal. 1+ nonpitting edema of lower extremities. No calf tenderness. Negative Homan's sign.

ASSESSMENT AND PLAN

1. Lower back pain.
- Medical Reasoning: I believe this is more of a muscular sprain.
- Patient Education and Counseling: We discussed treatment options today.
- Medical Treatment: I am going to start him on Naprosyn 500 mg twice a day and Flexeril 10 mg twice a day. I will refer him for physical therapy to help strengthen some of the muscles in his lower back.
- Additional Testing: I do not think he needs an x-ray at this stage, however if he does not improve, we will order one for further evaluation.

2. Diabetes.
- Medical Reasoning: His most recent A1c was 7.1 and his blood sugar levels are typically between 120-140.
- Patient Education and Counseling: We discussed treatment options today.
- Medical Treatment: He will continue the metformin 500 mg twice a day.
- Additional Testing: I am going to order another hemoglobin A1c.

3. Hypertension.
- Medical Reasoning: He does have 1+ edema in his legs.
- Patient Education and Counseling: We discussed treatment options today. I explained that his edema is likely caused by the Norvasc.
- Medical Treatment: The patient will discontinue the use of Norvasc and we will start him on hydrochlorothiazide 10 mg once a day.
- Additional Testing: I will order a CBC and BMP. Additionally, I will order a repeat EKG, as well as a chest x-ray.

Patient Agreements: The patient understands and agrees with the recommended medical treatment plan.

INSTRUCTIONS

The patient will follow up in 2 weeks.