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Examination of Patients

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Pruritus

Abstract

One of the first steps when attending to patients with pruritus is their examination. This comprises a precise taking of medical history, clinical examination and laboratory tests as well as radiological diagnostics. All of these are of high relevance. Only a comprehensive and precise history and a careful clinical examination can lead to a qualified differential diagnosis of possible underlying causes. This may be completed by laboratory and imaging investigation as well as skin biopsy. The results of all these may enable diagnosing of a certain form of pruritus. This chapter summarizes all relevant steps of the examination of pruritus patients and introduces to an anamnestic algorithm which facilitates the treatment of pruritus patients.

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Correspondence to Elke Weisshaar MD, PhD .

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© 2016 Springer-Verlag London

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Weisshaar, E., Streit, M. (2016). Examination of Patients. In: Misery, L., Ständer, S. (eds) Pruritus. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33142-3_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33142-3_11

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-33140-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-33142-3

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