A comprehensive clinical examination is the basis for selecting further diagnostic steps:
- General physical examination – including blood pressure, pulse, body weight, height; further:
- Inspection (viewing).
- Skin, mucous membranes, and sclerae (white part of the eye) [pallor of skin and mucous membranes, jaundice (yellowing of the skin)]
- Examination of the abdomen (abdomen):
- Percussion (tapping) of the abdomen.
- [Attenuation of tapping sound due to enlarged liver or spleen, tumor, urinary retention?
- Splenomegaly (splenomegaly): estimation of spleen size]
- Palpation (palpation) of the abdomen (abdomen) with an attempt to palpate the spleen (tenderness?, tapping pain?, coughing pain?, guarding pain?, hernial orifice?, kidney bearing tapping pain?) [splenomegaly (splenomegaly)]
- Percussion (tapping) of the abdomen.
- Inspection (viewing).
Square brackets [ ] indicate possible pathological (pathological) physical findings.
