CONN S CURRENT THERAPY 2023

General Medicine

The document covers two distinct clinical areas. For spine pain, it highlights that while most patients improve with minimal intervention, a subset develops chronic pain requiring significant healthcare resources. The goal of therapy is to manage acute pain to prevent chronicity. For infective endocarditis (IE), it details diagnostic criteria including major criteria like positive blood cultures with specific microorganisms and evidence of endocardial involvement. It also discusses the role of cardiac imaging, such as echocardiograms, in diagnosing IE by identifying vegetations or other abnormalities.