sim man 3g prep - ASSESSMENT TECHNIQUES Physical...

ASSESSMENT TECHNIQUES
Physical Examination
Inspection
- Concentrated watching
- Make sure room is comfy temp
- Good lighting
- Occasionally requires use of certain instruments
- Completely expose body part to be inspected
- NOTE: color, patterns, size, location, consistency, symmetry, movement,
behavior, odors, or sound
Palpation
- Texture, temp, moisture, mobility, consistency, strength of pulse, size,
shape, tenderness
- Light, deep, bimanual
- Light
o Place dominant hand lightly on surface
o Little or no depression (<1cm)
o Feel surface structure in a circular motion
o Use to feel for pulses, tenderness, temperature, surface skin texture,
and moisture
- Deep
o Place dominant hand on skin surface and nondominant hand on to of
your dominant hand to apply intermittent pressure
 Sense of touch becomes blunted with heavy or continuous pressure
o Depress skin surface between 2.5 and 5cm (1-2 inches)
 Used to feel very deep organs/structure covered by thick muscle
- Bimanual Palpation
o Use two hands, place one on each side of the body part (uterus, spleen,
breast, kidneys) being palpated
o Use one hand to apply pressure and the other hand to feel the structure
 Envelope or capture the body part/organ
o Note size, shape, consistency, and mobility of structures
Percussion
- Involves tapping body parts with short, sharp strokes to produce sound
waves
- Sound waves or vibrations enable the examiner to assess underlying
structures
- Eliciting pain, determining location and size, determining density,
detecting abnormal masses, eliciting deep tendon reflexes
- Direct (immediate)
o Direct tapping of the body part with two fingers to elicit possible
tenderness
- Indirect (mediate)

o Most commonly used method
o