Differential Diagnosis of Lower Limb Pain Aim to
The main focus of this course is to provide skills to assess systemic differential diagnosis of lower limb pain. Identifying the systemic cause and knowledge of referring to the physician or medical emergency services can potentially save precious time, resources and drastically change patient outcomes. This course will equip the clinicians with skills to stop chasing the symptoms and narrow down the source of dysfunction and pain earlier on in the course of therapy.
In addition, this is a concise course designed to be a handy reference guide for clinicians to perform a skilled evaluation, including subjective questioning and history taking, with objective examination with musculoskeletal special tests, and evidence based treatment strategies and understand bilateral lower limb weakness differential diagnosis.
Learning Objective
- Apply the knowledge MSK evaluation strategies for hip knee, ankle-foot joint clinically through identification of musculoskeletal injuries.
- Analyze red flags and yellow flags, referral criteria for the physician
- Differentiate between systemic and musculoskeletal differential diagnosis in order to identify the need for therapy or refer to the physician or emergency services.
- Demonstrate skilled patient interviewing techniques with system review questions for differential diagnosis.
Course Curriculum:
Section 1: Bilateral lower limb weakness differential diagnosis
1 hr : Hip anatomy with clinical applications
Common MSK Diagnosis, with in depth etiology and management of Hip OA + CPG, ITB syndrome, Hip bursitis, Femoroacetabular impingement. Snapping hip syndrome and Piriformis syndrome, groin pain, nerve entrapment in the hip, meralgia paresthetica.
1 hr Systemic DD Assessment with MSK testing and interview questions for systemic DD
Section 2: Knee Pain differential diagnosis
1 hr: Knee anatomy with clinical application:
Common MSK diagnosis with in depth eitiology and management of Patellofemoral pain, Tibial plateau fractures, knee ligament injuries, special tests of the knee with videos
1hr: Systemic DD of knee pain sciatica, Oncologic causes, Urologic causes, infectious and inflammatory causes, GI causes, vascular causes– special questions to ask under each section.
Section 3:Ankle Foot Pain differential diagnosis
1 hr: Clinical anatomy of ankle and foot. MSK diagnosis of ankle and foot, EBP for ankle foot pain, EBP for kinesiotaping for ankle instability, CPG for lateral ankle sprain (2021),special tests for the ankle joint and ligament testing.
1hr: systemic causes of ankle foot pain – screening for peripheral vascular diseases, neurological causes, identification of red flags, criteria for physician referral.
Who should Enroll
Physiotherapists
Physiotherapy assistants
Orthopedic
Nurses
Credit Hours
6 hours
Resources
- 60 Days Access to Learning Resources
- Downloadable Course Material
- CPD Certificate