A comprehensive clinical examination is the basis for selecting further diagnostic steps:
- General physical examination – including blood pressure, pulse, body temperature, body weight, body height; further:
- Inspection (viewing).
- Skin, mucous membranes and sclerae (white part of the eye).
- Inspection and palpation (palpation) of the thyroid gland and regional lymph nodes [pressure painful thyroid?; swollen lymph nodes?; differential diagnoses: struma multinodosa; thyroid carcinoma].
- Auscultation (listening) of the heart.
- Inspection (viewing).
- Health check
Square brackets [ ] indicate possible pathological (pathological) physical findings.
