Primary care
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Before repairing a laceration, consider the mechanism and severity of the injury. Gentle irrigation of the wound helps to remove microscopic infectious agents and larger debris. ⋯ Prophylaxis against tetanus, rabies, and/or bacterial infection should be considered. Clinical assessment of each wound is important to guide decisions about technique, anesthetic, suture material, and the interval period before nonabsorbable equipment can be removed.
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Olecranon bursitis, greater trochanteric bursitis, medial epicondylosis, and lateral epicondylosis are common diagnoses encountered in primary care and sports medicine clinics. This section explores the anatomy, clinical presentation, evaluation, procedural techniques, and management to effectively treat these common conditions.
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Chronic wounds originate from venous hypertension, arterial insufficiency, or pressure-induced ischemia. Determination of the type and associated causes and contributory conditions is essential for the diagnosis and management of these common conditions.
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Because many skin lesions and disorders can appear similar, primary care clinicians often struggle to diagnose them definitively without histopathologic information obtained from a biopsy. This review article explains how to decide whether a lesion should be biopsied and what type of biopsy technique to use and then outlines the stepwise approach to each of the most common skin biopsy techniques: shave, saucerization, punch, fusiform, and subcutaneous nodule biopsies. Finally, potential pitfalls and complications are discussed so the clinician can avoid those and can provide a cosmetically acceptable result from these common outpatient procedures.