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).
- Auscultation (listening) of the heart [tachycardia (> 100 beats per minute)?; arrhythmia?]
- Palpation (palpation) of the abdomen (abdomen) (tenderness?, knocking pain?, coughing pain?, defensive tension?, hernial orifices?, surgical scars?)
- Neurologic examination [muscle weakness and/or muscle spasms; attenuation of intrinsic and extrinsic reflexes; paresthesias (sensory disturbances); signs of paralysis]
- Health check
Square brackets [ ] indicate possible pathological (pathological) physical findings.
