Professional Documents
Culture Documents
COMPANION HANDBOOK
Page ii
Notice
Medicine is an ever-changing science. As new research
and clinical experience broaden our knowledge,
changes in treatment and drug therapy are required.
The editors and the publisher of this work have
checked with sources believed to be reliable in their
efforts to provide information that is complete and
generally in accord with the standards accepted at the
time of publication. However, in view of the
possibility of human error or changes in medical
sciences, neither the editors, nor the publisher, nor any
other party who has been involved in the preparation or
publication of this work warrants that the information
contained herein is in every respect accurate or
complete. Readers are encouraged to confirm the
information contained herein with other sources. For
example, and in particular, readers are advised to
check the product information sheet included in the
package of each drug they plan to administer to be
certain that the information contained in this book is
accurate and that changes have not been made in the
recommended dose or in the contraindications for
administration. This recommendation is of particular
importance in connection with new or infrequently
used drugs.
Page iii
COMPANION HANDBOOK
Page iv
Contents
Preface
About the authors
Laboratory reference values
Normal values: diagnostic guidelines
Abbreviations
A ABC of general practice
A diagnostic perspective
Abdominal pain
Abdominal pain in children
Infantile ‘colic’ (period of infant distress)
Intussusception
Drugs
Mesenteric adenitis
Recurrent abdominal pain
Specific causes of acute abdominal pain
Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA)
Mesenteric artery occlusion
Acute retention of urine
Acute appendicitis
Small bowel obstruction
Large bowel obstruction
Perforated peptic ulcer
Peritonitis
Ureteric colic
Biliary pain
Acute pancreatitis
Chronic pancreatitis
Acute diverticulitis
Lower abdominal pain in women
Ectopic pregnancy
Ruptured ovarian (Graafian) follicle (Mittelschmerz)
Ruptured ovarian cyst
Acute torsion of ovarian cyst
Pelvic adhesions
Acne
Some topical treatment regimens
Oral antibiotics
Other therapies
Acute allergic reactions
Anaphylaxis and anaphylactic reactions
Angioedema and acute urticaria
Acute coronary syndromes (ACS)
Addison disease (adrenal insufficiency)
Adolescent health
Depression, parasuicide and suicide
Alcohol problems
Alopecia areata (patchy hair loss) Page vi
Androgenetic alopecia (male pattern baldness)
Amnesia (loss of memory)
Transient global amnesia
Anaemia
Classification of anaemia
Microcytic anaemia—MCV ≤ 80 fL
Iron-deficiency anaemia
Thalassaemia
Macrocytic anaemia—MCV > 100 fL
Vitamin B12 deficiency (pernicious anaemia)
Folic acid deficiency
Angina pectoris
Anorectal disorders
Anorectal pain
Anal fissure
Proctalgia fugax
Perianal haematoma
Strangulated haemorrhoids
Perianal abscess
Anorectal lumps
Skin tags
Perianal warts
Internal haemorrhoids
Rectal prolapse
Anal (faecal) incontinence
Anorectal bleeding
Anticoagulants
Anxiety disorders
Generalised anxiety disorder
Panic disorder
Phobic disorders
Obsessive–compulsive disorder
Acute stress disorder
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Aphthous ulcers (canker sores)
Arm and hand pain
Pulled elbow
Tennis elbow
Olecranon bursitis
Trigger finger/thumb
Game keepers thumb (skiers thumb)
Raynaud phenomenon and disorder
Chilblains
Carpal tunnel syndrome
Arthritis
Osteoarthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis
Connective tissue disorders
Crystal arthritis
The spondyloarthropathies Page vii
Viral arthritis
Lyme disease and lyme like disease
The vasculitides
Asthma
Pharmacological agents to treat asthma
Maintenance plan for persistent asthma—adult (example)
Asthma action plan (example)
The acute asthma attack
Asthma in children
B Back pain
Low back pain (LBP)
Vertebral dysfunction with non-radicular pain (non-specific LBP
)
Chronic LBP (pain > 3 mths)
Vertebral dysfunction with radiculopathy (sciatica)
Lumbar spondylosis
Spondylolisthesis
The spondyloarthritides
Thoracic back pain
Scheuermann disorder
Idiopathic adolescent scoliosis
Kyphosis
Dysfunction of the thoracic spine
Bad news (breaking bad news)—guidelines
Bereavement and coping with loss
Balanitis (balanoposthitis)
Bed sores (pressure injury)
Belching (aerophagia)
Bell (facial nerve) palsy
Benzodiazepine problems
Benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome
Bites and stings
Bite wounds
Snake bites
Spider bites
Human bites and clenched fist injuries
Dog bites (non-rabid)
Cat bites
Bed bug bites
Sandfly (biting midges) bites
Mollusc bite (blue-ringed octopus, cone shell)
Stings
Bee stings
Centipede and scorpion bites/stings
Box jellyfish or sea wasp (Chironex fleckeri)
Irukandji (carukia barnesi) syndrome
‘Blue bottle’ and other stinging jellyfish
Stinging fish
Other bites and stings
Black named disorders Page viii
Bladder cancer
Bladder dysfunction (in women during night)
Blepharitis
Body odour
Boils (recurrent)
Breast lumps
Carcinoma of the breast
Fibrocystic disease
Breast cyst
Lactation cysts (galactoceles)
Fibroadenoma
Fat necrosis
Mammary duct ectasia
Phyllodes tumour
Breast pain (mastalgia)
Cyclical mastalgia
Non-cyclical mastalgia
Costochondritis (Tietze syndrome)
Mastitis
Inflammatory breast cancer (mastitis carcinomatosa)
Breast abscess
Breath-holding attacks
Bronchiolitis
Bronchitis
Acute bronchitis
Chronic bronchitis
Bruising and bleeding
Purpura
Vascular disorders
Platelet disorders
Coagulation disorders
Bruxism (teeth grinding)
Burning feet syndrome
Burns
Burns to hands
Buruli (aka Bairnsdale) ulcer: Mycobacterium ulcerans
C Calf pain
Cancer
Diagnostic triads/tetrads for specific cancers
Metastatic tumours
Cannabis (marijuana)
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)
‘Cellulite’
Cellulitis
Central nervous system infections (incl. meningitis, enceph
alitis, abcess)
Bacterial meningitis
Viral meningitis
Encephalitis
Brain abscess Page ix
Spinal subdural or epidural abscess
Prion transmitted diseases
Poliomyelitis
Cervical cancer screening
Performing a cervical screening test
Chest pain
Site, radiation and features of chest pain syndromes
Acute coronary syndromes (ACS)
Key features
Aortic dissection
Pulmonary embolism
Acute pericarditis
Spontaneous pneumothorax
Psychogenic pain
Chilblains
Children: normal developmental milestones
Children: developmental disorders
Growth and puberty problems
Short stature
Tall stature
Growing pains (benign nocturnal limb pain)
Delayed puberty
Precocious puberty
Premature thelarche
Premature adrenarche
Pubertal breast hyperplasia
Intellectual disability
Cerebral palsy
Down syndrome
Fragile X syndrome (FXS)
Prader–Willi syndrome
Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)
Williams syndrome
Specific learning disabilities (SLDs)
Dyslexia
Autism spectrum disorders
Child abuse
Childhood: common infectious diseases
Skin eruptions
Measles
Rubella
Scarlet fever
Viral exanthema (fourth syndrome)
Erythema infectiosum (fifth syndrome)
Roseola infantum (exanthema subitum or sixth syndrome)
Chickenpox (varicella)
Hand, foot and mouth (HFM) disease
Kawasaki disease
Others Page x
Mumps (epidemic parotitis)
Pertussis (whooping cough)
Children: special observations
The child as a barometer of the family
Failure to thrive (FTT)
Children’s behaviour disorders
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
Breath-holding attacks
Conduct disorders
Crying and fussing in infants
Habit cough
Head banging or rocking
Oppositional defiant disorder
Parasomnias (night terrors, sleep talking and walking)
Poor eating
Sleep disorders
Stealing
Stuttering and stammering
Temper tantrums
Tics (habit spasm)
Tourette disorder
Children: surgical problems
Plagiocephaly (flat head syndrome)
Ear, nose, face and oral cavity
Prominent bat/shell ears
Facial deformity
External angular dermoid
Cleft lip and cleft palate
Nasal disorders
Tongue tie
Pre-auricular sinus
Branchial sinus/cyst/fistula
Eyes
Strabismus (squint)
Blocked nasolacrimal duct
Neck lumps
Sternomastoid tumour/fibrosis
Thyroglossal cyst
Lymphatic malformation/cystic hygroma
Cervical lymphadenopathy
MAIS (Mycobactyerium AIS) lymphadenitis
Congenital heart disorders
Ventricular septal defect
Atrial septal defect
Patent ductus arteriosus
Coarctation of aorta
Hernias and genital disorders
Hernias
Hydroceles
Hypospadias Page xi
Foreskin and circumcision
Children: neonatal leg and foot abnormalities
Developmental dysplasia of hip
Club foot (congenital talipes equinovarus)
Flat feet (pes plano valgus)
Curly toes
Children: special senses
Visual problems
Amblyopia
Strabismus (squint)
Hearing problems
Optimal times for surgery/intervention in early children’s
disorders
Children’s emergencies
Meningitis or encephalitis
Acute epiglottitis
Acute heart failure
Poisoning
Swallowed foreign objects
Inhaled foreign bodies with choking
Management of other emergencies
Collapse in children
Pulse oximetry and oxygen saturation
Children’s skin and hair disorders
Neonatal period and early infancy
Toxic erythema of newborn
Transient neonatal pustular dermatosis
Naevus flammeus (salmon patch)
Capillary malformation (port wine stain)
Infantile haemangioma (strawberry naevus)
Sebaceous hyperplasia
Naevus sebaceous
Congenital naevi
Benign juvenile melanoma
Milia
Miliaria (‘sweat rash’)
Sucking blisters
Umbilical granuloma
Breast hyperplasia
Frey’s syndrome
Common childhood skin problems
Hair disorders
Loose anagen (growing hair) syndrome
Traction alopecia
Trichotillomania (hair pulling)
Localised alopecia areata
Tinea capitis
Chloasma
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Cold sores
Common cold (acute coryza) Page xii
Communication and consulting skills (or how to prevent lit
igation)
Concussion
Conjunctivitis
Bacterial conjunctivitis
Viral conjunctivitis
Primary herpes simplex infection
Allergic conjunctivitis
Chlamydia trachomatis conjunctivitis (trachoma)
Constipation
Idiopathic (functional) constipation
Colorectal cancer (CRC)
Contact dermatitis
Contraception
Cough
Key features
Cough in children
Bronchial carcinoma
Bronchiectasis
Tuberculosis
Symptomatic treatment of cough
Counselling skills
Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT)
Court appearance
‘Cracked’ skin
Cracked and dry lips
Cracked hands and fingers
Cracked heels
Cramps (nocturnal cramps in legs)
Cranial nerves
Croup
Crying baby
D Dandruff
Persistent dandruff
Deafness and hearing loss
Deafness in children
Otosclerosis
Noise-induced hearing loss
Presbyacusis
Wax impaction
Depression
Notes about antidepressants
Dermatitis/eczema
Atopic dermatitis (eczema)
Other types of atopic dermatitis
Nummular (discoid) eczema
Pityriasis alba
Lichen simplex chronicus
Dyshydrotic dermatitis (pompholyx)
Asteatotic dermatitis (‘winter itch’) Page xiii
Dermatitis of hands
Diabetes mellitus
Type 1 diabetes mellitus
Type 2 diabetes mellitus
Hypoglycaemia
Diabetic ketoacidosis
Diarrhoea
Specific conditions
Pseudomembranous colitis (antibiotic-associated diarrhoea)
Ischaemic colitis in the elderly
Diarrhoea in children
Acute gastroenteritis
Toddlers diarrhoea (‘cradle crap’)
Chronic diarrhoea in children
Acute gastroenteritis in adults
Traveller’s diarrhoea
Inflammatory bowel disease
Difficult, demanding and angry patients
Diplopia
Cranial nerves in general (with function)
Disturbed patients
Dementia (chronic organic brain syndrome)
The acutely disturbed patient
Delirium (acute organic brain syndrome)
The acute psychotic patient
Bipolar disorder
Diverticular disease
Dizziness/vertigo
Vertigo
Giddiness
Syncopal episodes
Disequilibrium
Specific causes of dizziness
Drugs
Cervical spine dysfunction
Acute vestibulopathy (vestibular failure)
Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo
Ménière syndrome
Vestibular migraine (migrainous vertigo)
Recurrent vestibulopathy
Dizzy turns in elderly women
Dizzy turns in girls in late teens
Domestic (intimate partner) violence
Drugs—illicit substance abuse
Dry eyes
Dry hair
Dry mouth
Dry skin
Dyslipidaemia Page xiv
Dysmenorrhoea (primary)
Dyspareunia
Dyspepsia (indigestion)
Dyspepsia in children
Gastro-oesophageal reflux
Dyspepsia in adults
Gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD)
Functional (non-ulcer) dyspepsia
Peptic ulcer disease
NSAIDs and peptic ulcers
Dysphagia
Dyspnoea
Key investigations for dyspnoea
Pulmonary function tests
Interstitial lung diseases
Sarcoidosis
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis
Hypersensitive pneumonitic (extrinsic allergic alveolitis)
Occupational pulmonary disease
Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS)
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)
Dystonia
Dysuria and frequency
E Ear pain
Key features
Otitis media in children
Otitis media in adults
Otitis externa
Furunculosis
Perichondritis
Infected earlobe
Otic barotrauma
Ectropion
Elderly patients
‘Rules of 7’ for assessment of the non-coping elderly patient
The mini-mental state examination
Falls in the elderly
Electrolyte/metabolic disorders
Emergency management of key medical conditions
Encopresis (faecal incontinence in children)
Endocarditis
Endocrine—overview of conditions
Triads/tetrads for syndromes related to pituitary hormones
Thyroid
Adrenal
Pituitary
Other endocrine related
Endometriosis
Entropion
Enuresis (bed-wetting) Page xv
Nocturnal enuresis
Epilepsy
Tonic-clonic seizures
Absence seizure
Complex partial seizures
Simple partial seizures
Status epilepticus
Epistaxis: treatment techniques
Erectile dysfunction
Erysipelas
Eye: dry
Eye pain and redness
Red eye in children
Neonatal conjunctivitis (ophthalmia neonatorum)
Trachoma
Blocked nasolacrimal duct
Orbital cellulitis
Red eye in adults
Conjunctivitis
Episcleritis and scleritis
Uveitis (iritis)
Acute glaucoma
Herpes zoster ophthalmicus
Flash burns
Eyelid and lacrimal disorders
Stye
Chalazion (meibomian cyst)
Blepharitis
Dacryocystitis
Dacroadenitis
Eyelashes: ingrowing (trichiasis)
Eyelid ‘twitching’ or ‘jumping’
Eyes: flash burns
F Facial pain
Cervical spinal dysfunction
Dental disorders
Alveolar osteitis (dry tooth socket)
Pain from paranasal sinuses
Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) dysfunction
Trigeminal neuralgia
Glossopharyngeal neuralgia
Facial migraine (lower half headache)
Chronic paroxysmal hemicrania
Herpes zoster and postherpetic neuralgia
Atypical facial pain
Fatty liver
Fever and chills
Fever of less than 3 days duration
Fever present for 4–14 days
Fever in children Page xvi
Febrile convulsions
Fever of undetermined origin (FUO)
Fibroids (leiomyoma)
Fibromyalgia syndrome
Flatus: excessive
Floaters and flashers of eyes
Folliculitis
Foot odour (smelly and sweaty feet)
Foot pain (podalgia)
Vascular causes
Complex regional pain syndrome 1
Osteoid osteoma
Osteochondritis/aseptic necrosis
Skin disorders
Arthritic conditions
Foot strain
Plantar fasciitis
Metatarsalgia
Stress fractures
Morton neuroma
Foot ache
Callus, corn and wart
Turf toe
Ingrowing toenails
Paronychia
Freckles and lentigines (sun spots)
Frostbite
G Gambling
Ganglion
Gastroenteritis
Gastroparesis (gastropathy) in adults
Genetic disorders
Familial cancer
Genital herpes
Genital warts
Geographical tongue (erythema migrans)
Gingivitis
Glandular fever
Epstein–Barr mononucleosis (EBM)
Globus hystericus
Gout (monosodium urate crystal disease)
Granuloma annularae
Growing pains
Grover disease
Guillain–Barre syndrome
H Haematemesis and melaena
Haematuria
Haemochromatosis (primary hereditary)
Haemorrhoids Page xvii
Hair disorders
Androgenic alopecia
Alopecia areata, alopecia totalis and alopecia universalis
Scarring alopecia
Telogen effluvium
Anagen effluvium
Trichotillomania (hair pulling)
Hair disorders in children
Hirsuties
Hypertrichosis
Dry hair
Oily hair
Halitosis
Hangover
Hay fever (seasonal allergic rhinitis)
Head banging or rocking in toddlers
Headache
Tension-type headache
Migraine
Transformed migraine
Cluster headache
Cervical dysfunction/spondylosis–cervicogenic headache
Combination headache
Temporal arteritis
Frontal sinusitis
Subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH)
Hypertension headache
Benign intracranial hypertension (pseudotumour cerebri)
Head injury and unconsciousness
Extradural haematoma
Subdural (epidural) haematoma
Heartburn (dyspepsia)
Heart failure
Diastolic heart failure
Acute severe heart failure
Heel pain
Achilles tendon bursitis
Plantar fasciitis
Achilles tendonopathy/peritendonitis
Partial rupture of Achilles tendon
Complete rupture of Achilles tendon
Hepatitis
Hepatitis A
Hepatitis B (HBV)
Hepatitis C (HCV)
Herpes simplex
Herpes labialis (classical cold sores)
Genital herpes
Eczema herpeticum Page xviii
Herpetic whitlow
Herpes simplex keratitis
Herpes zoster (shingles)
Postherpetic neuralgia
Hiccoughs (hiccups)
Hip pain
Key features: hip and buttock pain
Hip pain in children
Developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH)
Perthes disease
Transient synovitis
Slipped capital femoral epiphysis
Septic arthritis
Hip and buttock pain in the elderly
Osteoarthritis of the hip
Greater trochanteric pain syndrome
Hirsutism
Hives (papular urticaria)
Hoarseness
Human immunodeficiency virus infection
Hypertension
Hyperventilation
Hypoglycaemia
I Immunisation
Impetigo
Incontinence of urine
Infantile colic
Infertility/subfertility
Referral
Influenza
Ingrowing toenails
Injectable contraceptives
Insect stings
Insomnia
Intertrigo
Groin rash
Candida intertrigo
Erythrasma
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
J Jaundice
Key history
Infective viral hepatitis
Cholestatic jaundice (bile outflow obstruction)
Jaundice in the infant
Jet lag
Jitters
Jock itch
K Kawasaki disease (mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome)
Keloid or hypertrophic scar
Keratoacanthoma Page xix
Peripheral neuropathy
Guillain–Barre syndrome
Personality disorders
Perspiration: excessive (hyperhidrosis)
Phimosis
Photoageing/wrinkles
Pityriasis rosea
Pityriasis versicolor (tinea versicolor)
Plantar warts
Pneumonia
Typical pneumonia
The atypical pneumonias
Antibiotic treatment for CAP according to severity
Pneumonia in children
Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS)
Polymyalgia rheumatica and giant cell arteritis
Premature ejaculation
Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)
Prickly heat (miliaria/heat rash)
Prostate disorders
Benign prostatic hyperplasia
Carcinoma of the prostate
Pruritus (generalised)
Pruritus ani
Pruritus vulvae
Psoriasis
Treatment options
Purpura
R Rectal bleeding
Refugee health
Restless legs (Ekbom syndrome)
Reye syndrome and aspirin
Rhinosinusitis
Acute URTI rhinosinusitis
Rhinitis medicamentosa
Vasomotor rhinitis
Ringworm
Rosacea
Ross River and Barmah Forest infection
S Sarcopenia
Scabies
Scrotal pain
Torsion of the testis versus epididymo-orchitis
Acute epididymo-orchitis
Seborrhoeic dermatitis
Septicaemia (sepsis)
Sexually transmitted infections
Syphilis Page xxiii
Urethritis
Shingles
Shoulder pain
Tendonopathy syndromes, subacromial bursitis and adhesive ca
psulitis
Sinusitis
Skin cancer
Basal cell carcinoma
Squamous cell carcinoma
Bowen disorder (intradermal carcinoma)
Malignant melanoma
Skin eruptions
Acute skin eruptions in children
Secondary syphilis
Primary HIV infection
Guttate psoriasis
Drug eruptions
Erythema multiforme
Stevens–Johnson syndrome/toxic epidermal necrolysis
Erythema nodosum
Hand, foot and mouth (HFM) disease
Sleep disorders
Primary insomnia
Periodic limb movements
Restless legs syndrome
Narcolepsy
Sleep paralysis
Sleep apnoea
Parasomnias
Sleep disorders in children
Smoking/nicotine
Snapping or clinking hip
Snoring
Sore throat
Streptococcal tonsillopharyngitis
Quinsy
Diphtheria (may be seen in recent overseas travellers)
Candida pharyngitis
Spinal dysfunction
Cervical spinal dysfunction
Thoracic spinal dysfunction
Lumbar spinal dysfunction
Splenectomy patients
Sprained ankle
Stinging fish
Stitch in side (precordial catch, Texidor twinge)
Stool/faeces—diagnostic pointers
Stress disorders
Stroke and TIAs (transient ischaemic attacks) Page xxiv
Stroke
Transient ischaemic attacks
Atrial fibrillation and TIAs
Stuttering
Stye in eye
Subconjunctival haemorrhage
Sudden unexpected infant death syndrome (SIDS) and AL
TE
Apparent life-threatening episode (ALTE)
Sunburn
Sweating
General hyperhidrosis
Axillary hyperhidrosis
Specialist treatments
Syphilis
T Tampon toxic shock syndrome
Tearduct (nasolacrimal duct) blockage in child
Teething
Temporomandibular joint dysfunction
Tennis elbow
Tension-type headache
Testicular tumours
Tetanus
Thrombotic disorders and anticoagulation
Thrombophilia
Warfarin
Direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs)
Thrush (candidiasis) of mouth
Thumb sucking
Thyroid disorders
Hypothyroidism (myxoedema)
Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (autoimmune thyroiditis)
Neonatal hypothyroidism
Hyperthyroidism (thyrotoxicosis)
Subacute thyroiditis
Tick bites
Tics
Tinea infections
Tinea capitis
Tinea cruris (jock itch)
Tinea pedis (athlete’s foot)
Tinea of toenails and fingernails (tinea unguium)
Tinea corporis
Tinea incognito
Tinnitus
Precautions
Investigations
Acute severe tinnitus
Those for investigation Page xxv
Tiredness/fatigue
Sleep-related disorders
Narcolepsy
Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)
Tongue disorders
Erythema migrans
Black or hairy tongue
Torticollis (acute wry neck)
Travel medicine and tropical infections
Malaria
Fever in the returned traveller
Traveller’s diarrhoea
Typhoid fever
Cholera
Amoebiasis
Giardiasis
Dengue (‘breakbone’) fever and chikungunya
Zika virus
Melioidosis
Malaria
Japanese B encephalitis and meningococcal meningitis
Schistosomiasis (bilharzia)
African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness)
Plague (‘black death’)
Rabies (a rhabdovirus infection)
Hansen’s disease (leprosy)
Leishmaniasis
Cutaneous myiasis
Helminth (worm) infections
Pinworms (also called threadworms)
Human roundworm
Viral haemorrhagic fevers (VHF)
Travel sickness
Tremor
Classification
Resting tremor—Parkinsonian
Action or postural tremor
Intention tremor (cerebellar disease)
Flapping (metabolic tremor)
Essential tremor
Tropical ear
U Umbilical discharge
Umbilical granuloma in infants
Undescended testes
The problem of non-descent
Optimal time for assessment
Refer
Optimal time for surgery
Hormone injections Page xxvi
Unemployment
Vulnerable groups
Urethritis
Chlamydia non-specific urethritis
Gonococcal infection
Urinary tract infection
Acute uncomplicated cystitis
Acute pyelonephritis
Indications for investigation of UTI
Investigations for recurrent UTI
Urine color changes—diagnostic pointers
Urticaria (hives)
Check causes
V Vaginal discharge
Vaginal thrush (candidal vulvovaginitis)
Bacterial vaginosis
Trichomonas vaginalis
Atrophic vaginitis
Venous ulcers
Wound dressing
Visual loss
Amblyopia
Retinoblastoma
Cataracts
Glaucoma
Retinitis pigmentosa
Acute and subacute painless loss of vision: diagnostic strategy m
odel
Amaurosis fugax
Retinal migraine
Retinal detachment
Vitreous haemorrhage
Central retinal artery occlusion
Central retinal vein thrombosis
Macular degeneration
Temporal arteritis
Posterior vitreous detachment
Optic (retrobulbar) neuritis
Vitiligo
Vomiting
Vomiting in infancy
Cyclical vomiting
Chronic idiopathic nausea and vomiting
Symptomatic relief of vomiting
Vulvar disorders
Lichen sclerosus
Chronic vulvovaginal candidiasis
Vulvovaginitis in prepubertal girls
Vulvodynia
W Warts Page xxvii
Weight loss
Failure to thrive
Eating disorders in the adolescent
Whiplash
Whole-person approach to management
Worms (helminths)
Wounds: removal of non-absorbable sutures
Wrinkles
Writer’s cramp
Z Zoonoses
Appendixes
Appendix 1 Dermatome chart
Appendix 2 Mini-mental state examination
Appendix 3 Snellen visual acuity chart (read from distance 140 cm)
Appendix 4 School exclusion for childhood infectious diseases: minimum ex
clusion periods from school, preschool and childcare centres
Appendix 5 BMI ready reckoner
Appendix 6 Basic life support algorithm and CPR schedule Page xxviii
Page xxix
Preface
John Murtagh AO
MBBS, MD, BSc, BEd, FRACGP, DipObstRCOG
Emeritus Professor in General Practice, Monash University
Professorial Fellow of General Practice, University of Melbourne
Adjunct Clinical Professor, Graduate School of Medicine,
University of Notre Dame, Fremantle, Western Australia
II
IN the long, dark room where Dudley Leicester still sprawled in his
deep chair, Katya stopped Robert Grimshaw near the door.
“I’ll ask him to ask you his question,” she said, “and you’ll
answer it in as loud a voice as you can. That’ll cure him. You’ll see. I
don’t suppose you expected to see me here.”
“I didn’t expect it,” he answered, “but I know why you have
come.”
“Well,” she said, “if he isn’t cured, you’ll be hanging round him
for ever.”
“Yes, I suppose I shall be hanging round him for ever,” he
answered.
“And more than that, you’ll be worrying yourself to death over it.
I can’t bear you to worry, Toto,” she said. She paused for a long
minute and then she scrutinized him closely.
“So it was you who rang him up on the telephone?” she said. “I
thought it was, from the beginning.”
“Oh, don’t let’s talk about that any more,” Grimshaw said; “I’m
very tired; I’m very lonely. I’ve discovered that there are things one
can’t do—that I’m not the man I thought I was. It’s you who are
strong and get what you want, and I’m only a meddler who muddles
and spoils. That’s the moral of the whole thing. Take me on your own
terms and make what you can of me. I am too lonely to go on alone
any more. I’ve come to give myself up. I went down to Brighton to
give myself up to you on condition that you cured Dudley Leicester.
Now I just do it without any conditions whatever.”
She looked at him a little ironically, a little tenderly.
“Oh, well, my dear,” she said, “we’ll talk about that when he’s
cured. Now come.”
She made him stand just before Leicester’s sprawled-out feet,
and going round behind the chair, resting her hands already on
Leicester’s hair in preparation for bending down to make, near his
ear, the suggestion that he should put his question, she looked up at
Robert Grimshaw.
“You consent,” she said, with hardly a touch of triumph in her
voice, “that I should live with you as my mother lived with my father?”
And at Robert Grimshaw’s minute gesture of assent: “Oh, well, my
dear,” she continued quite gently, “it’s obvious to me that you’re more
than touched by this little Pauline of ours. I don’t say that I resent it. I
don’t suggest that it makes you care for me any less than you should
or did, but I’m sure, perfectly sure, of the fact such as it is, and I’m
sure, still more sure, that she cares extremely for you. So that ...”
She had been looking down at Dudley Leicester’s forehead, but she
looked up again into Robert Grimshaw’s eyes. “I think, my dear,” she
said slowly, “as a precaution, I think you cannot have me on those
terms; I think you had better”—she paused for the fraction of a
minute—“marry me,” and her fingers began to work slowly upon
Dudley Leicester’s brows. There was the least flush upon her
cheeks, the least smile round the corners of her lips, she heaved the
ghost of a sigh.
“So that you get me both ways,” Robert Grimshaw said; and his
hands fell desolately open at his side.
“Every way and altogether,” she answered.
EPISTOLARY EPILOGUE
“IT was a summer evening four years later when, upon the sands of
one of our most fashionable watering-places, a happy family group,
consisting of a buxom mother and several charming children, might
have been observed to disport itself. Who can this charming matron
be, and who these lovely children, designated respectively Robert,
Dudley, Katya, and Ellida?
“And who is this tall and robust gentleman who, wearing across
the chest of his white cricketing flannel the broad blue ribbon of His
Majesty’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, bearing in one hand
negligently the Times of the day before yesterday and in the other a
pastoral rake, approaches from the hayfields, and, with an indulgent
smile, surveys the happy group? Taking from his mouth his pipe—for
in the dolce far niente of his summer vacation, when not called upon
by his duties near the Sovereign at Windsor, he permits himself the
relaxation of the soothing weed—he remarks:
“‘The Opposition fellows have lost the by-election at Camber.’
“Oblivious of his pipe, the charming matron casts herself upon
his neck, whilst the children dance round him with cries of
congratulation, and the trim nurses stand holding buckets and
spades with expressions of respectful happiness upon their
countenances. Who can this be?
“And who, again, are these two approaching along the sands
with happy and contented faces—the gentleman erect, olive-
skinned, and, since his wife has persuaded him to go clean-shaven,
appearing ten years younger than when we last saw him; the lady
dark and tall, with the first signs of matronly plumpness just
appearing upon her svelte form? They approach and hold out their
hands to the happy Cabinet Minister with attitudes respectively of
manly and ladylike congratulation, whilst little Robert and little Katya,
uttering joyful cries of ‘Godmama’ and ‘Godpapa!’ dive into their
pockets for chocolates and the other presents that they are
accustomed to find there.
“Who can these be? Our friend the reader will have already
guessed. And so, with a moisture at the contemplation of so much
happiness bedewing our eyes, we lay down the pen, pack up the
marionettes into their box, ring down the curtain, and return to our
happy homes, where the wives of our bosoms await us. That we
may meet again, dear reader, is the humble and pious wish of your
attached friend, the writer of these pages.”
Thus, my dear ——, you would have me end this book, after I
have taken an infinite trouble to end it otherwise. No doubt, also, you
would have me record how Etta Hudson, as would be inevitably the
case with such a character, eventually became converted to Roman
Catholicism, and ended her days under the direction of a fanatical
confessor in the practice of acts of the most severe piety and
mortification, Jervis, the butler of Mr. Dudley Leicester, you would
like to be told, remained a humble and attached dependent in the
service of his master; whilst Saunders, Mr. Grimshaw’s man, thinking
himself unable to cope with the duties of the large establishment in
Berkeley Square which Mr. Grimshaw and Katya set up upon their
marriage, now keeps a rose-clad hostelry on the road to Brighton.
But we have forgotten Mr. Held! Under the gentle teaching of Pauline
Leicester he became an aspirant for Orders in the Church of
England, and is now, owing to the powerful influence of Mr. Dudley
Leicester, chaplain to the British Embassy at St. Petersburg.
But since, my dear ——, all these things appear to me to be
sufficiently indicated in the book as I have written it, I must confess
that these additions, inspired as they are by you—but how much
better they would have been had you actually written them! these
additions appear to me to be ugly, superfluous, and disagreeable.
The foxes have holes, the birds of the air have nests, and you,
together with the great majority of British readers, insist upon having
a happy ending, or, if not a happy ending, at least some sort of an
ending. This is a desire, like the desire for gin-and-water or any other
comforting stimulant, against which I have nothing to say. You go to
books to be taken out of yourself, I to be shown where I stand. For
me, as for you, a book must have a beginning and an end. But
whereas for you the end is something arbitrarily final, such as the
ring of wedding-bells, a funeral service, or the taking of a public-
house, for me—since to me a novel is the history of an “affair”—
finality is only found at what seems to me to be the end of that
“affair.” There is in life nothing final. So that even “affairs” never really
have an end as far as the lives of the actors are concerned. Thus,
although Dudley Leicester was, as I have tried to indicate, cured
almost immediately by the methods of Katya Lascarides, it would be
absurd to imagine that the effects of his short breakdown would not
influence the whole of his after-life. These effects may have been to
make him more conscientious, more tender, more dogged, less self-
centred; may have been to accentuate him in a great number of
directions. For no force is ever lost, and the ripple raised by a stone,
striking upon the bank of a pool, goes on communicating its force for
ever and ever throughout space and throughout eternity. But for our
vision its particular “affair” ends when, striking the bank, it
disappears. So for me the “affair” of Dudley Leicester’s madness
ended at the moment when Katya Lascarides laid her hands upon
his temple. In the next moment he would be sane, the ripple of
madness would have disappeared from the pond of his life. To have
gone on farther would have been, not to have ended this book, but to
have begun another, which—the fates being good—I hope to write. I
shall profit, without doubt, by your companionship, instruction, and
great experience. You have called me again and again an
Impressionist, and this I have been called so often that I suppose it
must be the fact. Not that I know what an Impressionist is.
Personally, I use as few words as I may to get any given effect, to
render any given conversation. You, I presume, do the same. You
don’t, I mean, purposely put in more words than you need—more
words, that is to say, than seem to you to satisfy your desire for
expression. You would probably render a conversation thus:
“Extending her hand, which was enveloped in creamy tulle, Mrs.
Sincue exclaimed, ‘Have another cup of tea, dear?’ ‘Thanks—two
lumps,’ her visitor rejoined. ‘So I hear Colonel Hapgood has eloped
with his wife’s French maid!’”
I should probably set it down:
“After a little desultory conversation, Mrs. Sincue’s visitor,
dropping his dark eyes to the ground, uttered in a voice that betrayed
neither exultation nor grief, ‘Poor old Hapgood’s cut it with Nanette.
Don’t you remember Nanette, who wore an apron with lace all round
it and those pocket things, and curled hair?’”
This latter rendering, I suppose, is more vague in places, and in
other places more accentuated, but I don’t see how it is more
impressionist. It is perfectly true you complain of me that I have not
made it plain with whom Mr. Robert Grimshaw was really in love, or
that when he resigned himself to the clutches of Katya Lascarides,
whom personally I extremely dislike, an amiable but meddlesome
and inwardly conceited fool was, pathetically or even tragically,
reaping the harvest of his folly. I omitted to add these comments,
because I think that for a writer to intrude himself between his
characters and his reader is to destroy to that extent all the illusion of
his work. But when I found that yourself and all the moderately quick-
minded, moderately sane persons who had read the book in its
original form failed entirely to appreciate what to me has appeared
as plain as a pikestaff—namely, that Mr. Grimshaw was extremely in
love with Pauline Leicester, and that, in the first place, by marrying
her to Dudley Leicester, and, in the second place, by succumbing to
a disagreeable personality, he was committing the final folly of this
particular affair—when I realized that these things were not plain, I
hastened to add those passages of explicit conversation, those
droppings of the eyelids and tragic motions of the hands, that you
have since been good enough to say have made the book.
Heaven knows, one tries enormously hard to be simple, to be
even transparently simple, but one falls so lamentably between two
stools. Thus, another reader, whom I had believed to be a person of
some intellect, has insisted to me that in calling this story “A Call” I
must have had in my mind something mysterious, something
mystical; but what I meant was that Mr. Robert Grimshaw, putting the
ear-piece to his ear and the mouthpiece to his mouth, exclaimed,
after the decent interval that so late at night the gentleman in charge
of the exchange needs for awaking from slumber and grunting
something intelligible—Mr. Grimshaw exclaimed, “Give me 4259
Mayfair.” This might mean that Lady Hudson was a subscriber to the
Post Office telephone system, but it does not mean in the least that
Mr. Grimshaw felt religious stirrings within him or “A Call” to do
something heroic and chivalrous, such as aiding women to obtain
the vote.
So that between those two classes of readers—the one who
insist upon reading into two words the whole psychology of moral
revivalism, and the others who, without gaining even a glimpse of
meaning, will read or skip through fifty or sixty thousand words, each
one of which is carefully selected to help on a singularly plain tale—
between these two classes of readers your poor Impressionist falls
lamentably enough to the ground. He sought to point no moral. His
soul would have recoiled within him at the thought of adorning by
one single superfluous word his plain tale. His sole ambition was to
render a little episode—a small “affair” affecting a little circle of
people—exactly as it would have happened. He desired neither to
comment nor to explain. Yet here, commenting and explaining, he
takes his humble leave, having packed the marionettes into the
case, having pulled the curtain down, and wiping from his troubled
eyes the sensitive drops of emotion. This may appear to be an end,
but it isn’t. He is, still, your Impressionist, thinking what the devil—
what the very devil—he shall do to make his next story plain to the
most mediocre intelligence!
THE END
*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A CALL ***