Preface

CURRENT Practice Guidelines in Primary Care 2025–2026 is written for all clinicians seeking easy access to updated evidence-based guidelines for primary care topics in ambulatory and hospital settings. This handy reference consolidates guideline information from national medical associations and government agencies into concise recommendations covering virtually all primary care topics. This book is organized into topics related to screening and prevention and disease management and further subdivided into organ systems for quick reference to the evaluation and treatment of the most common primary care disorders.

The 2025–2026 edition of CURRENT Practice Guidelines in Primary Care contains updates and additions reflecting the review of more than 130 new guidelines. The edition contains new topics including bipolar disorder, stimulant use disorder, eating disorders, anxiety screening, esophageal varices, overactive bladder, thromboembolic disease in COVID-19, cancer-related cachexia, low back pain, chronic hand pain, liver disease in pregnancy, mood disorders in pregnancy, interstitial lung disease, obstructive sleep apnea, acne, atopic dermatitis, premenstrual disorders, and hearing loss.

In addition, there have been significant updates in several sections including chronic kidney disease, atrial fibrillation, diabetes, hypothyroidism, acute pancreatitis, Barrett esophagus, cirrhosis, colorectal cancer screening, alcoholic hepatitis, hepatitis C, COVID-19, diabetic foot infections, hip osteoarthritis, headaches, delirium, chronic pain, vaccines, hepatitis in pregnancy, preeclampsia, labor and delivery, substance use in pregnancy, COPD, skin cancer, dementia, and osteoporosis. Finally, there are updated cancer screening recommendations for breast cancer, colorectal cancer, prostate cancer, testicular cancer, ovarian cancer, and lung cancer.

Residents, medical students, mid-level providers, and practicing physicians in family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, and obstetrics and gynecology alike will find it a great resource.

Some guidelines include race as a consideration in clinical decision-making. As efforts to explain racial differences in outcomes can be grounded in biased data, recommendations to vary care by race should be considered with caution. A thoughtful assessment is available at N Engl J Med. 2020;383:847–882 (https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMms2004740). Additionally, in this text, ‘male’ and ‘female’ refer to biological sex rather than gender identity, as most guidelines do not address the distinction.

Although painstaking efforts have been made to find all errors and omissions, some may remain. If you find an error or wish to suggest a change, please contact McGraw Hill: www.mhprofessional.com/contact-us.

Evidence-based guidelines such as those reviewed in this book are wonderful tools. They enable management strategies to be standardized and disseminated to a broad swath of the medical profession. At their best, they offer immediate access to the wisdom and analytical approach to data-driven medical care employed by the experts, elevating the quality of our care. But, as with any endeavor, they are susceptible to bias and misinterpretation. While evidence-based guidelines increasingly dictate the standards for our clinical practice, the highest quality medical care will always derive from a clinician's experience, curiosity, critical thinking, compassion, and personal relationship with a patient. In that spirit, please use the tools in this book to further hone your craft.

This book is dedicated to all our current and former residents at the Ventura County Medical Center.