- Vital signs
Vital signs are measures of various physiological statistics often taken by
health professional s in order to assess the most basic body functions. Vital signs are an essential part of acase presentation .Primary four
There are four vital signs which are standard in most medical settings:
# Body temperature
#Pulse rate (orheart rate )
#Blood pressure
#Respiratory rate The equipment needed is a
thermometer , asphygmomanometer , and awatch .Though a pulse can often be taken by hand, a
stethoscope may be required for a patient with a very weak pulse.Additional signs
While various additional signs have been proposed, none have been officially universally adopted due to the expense in obtaining equipment required to diagnose and the difficulty in training entry-level professionals. However, body mass index (ratio of height to weight) has been introduced in recent years as an additional vital sign that is easy to measure and indicative of disease risk.
Fifth sign
The phrase "fifth vital sign" usually refers to
pain , as perceived by the patient on aPain scale of 0–10. [cite journal |author=Walid MS, Donahue SN, Darmohray DM, Hyer LA, Robinson JS |title=The Fifth Vital Sign—What Does It Mean? |journal=Pain Practice|volume= |issue= |pages= |year=2008 |pmid= |doi=10.1111/j.1533-2500.2008.00222.x] For example, theVeterans Administration made this their policy in 1999. However, some doctors have noted that pain is actually a subjectivesymptom , not an objective sign, and therefore object to this classification. [Harold S. Lee. November 2004. [http://www.asahq.org/Newsletters/2004/11_04/lte11_04.html Physical Diagnosis 101: A Lesson From the First Year of Medical School] , in Letters to the Editor. "American Society of Anesthesiologists", Volume 68, Number 11. ]Other sources include pulse oximetry as their fifth sign. [cite journal |author=Mower W, Myers G, Nicklin E, Kearin K, Baraff L, Sachs C |title=Pulse oximetry as a fifth vital sign in emergency geriatric assessment |journal=Acad Emerg Med |volume=5 |issue=9 |pages=858–65 |year=1998 |pmid=9754497] [cite journal |author=Mower W, Sachs C, Nicklin E, Baraff L |title=Pulse oximetry as a fifth pediatric vital sign |journal=Pediatrics |volume=99 |issue=5 |pages=681–6 |year=1997 |pmid=9113944 |doi=10.1542/peds.99.5.681] [cite journal |author=Neff T |title=Routine oximetry. A fifth vital sign? |journal=Chest |volume=94 |issue=2 |pages=227 |year=1988 |pmid=3396392]
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