Widespread Musculoskeletal Pain
OVERVIEW Widespread pain involves multisite body pain often with symptoms in other body systems. It includes the syndrome of fibromyalgia Patients with widespread pain often have associated sleep and concentration…
Pelvic and Reproductive System Symptoms
OVERVIEW >50% of patients with chronic pelvic pain (CPP) have no obvious underlying pathology The diagnosis of functional CPP should be given as a positive statement not an expression of…
Epidemiology and Impact in Primary and Secondary Care
OVERVIEW Medically unexplained symptoms (MUS) are common in all fields of medicine Many patients have only occasional or mild MUS, but some have either persistent, recurring or changing symptoms In…
Medically Unexplained Symptoms and the General Practitioner
OVERVIEW Medically unexplained symptoms (MUS) are a source of diagnostic confusion for GPs MUS can be frustrating for GPs and for patients The main expectation of patients with MUS is…
Considering Organic Disease
OVERVIEW Symptoms that appear to be functional will sometimes turn out to indicate serious illness Premature closure of diagnostic reasoning and failure to consider the possibility of serious disease are…
Palpitations, Chest Pain and Breathlessness
OVERVIEW Palpitations can be managed as a medically unexplained symptom by the GP where the clinical picture is very low risk or investigations show only sinus tachycardia Chest pain, although…
