RT Book, Section A1 Huff, J. Stephen A1 Perron, Andrew D. A2 Tintinalli, Judith E. A2 Ma, O. John A2 Yealy, Donald M. A2 Meckler, Garth D. A2 Stapczynski, J. Stephan A2 Cline, David M. A2 Thomas, Stephen H. SR Print(0) ID 1166598259 T1 Neurologic Examination T2 Tintinalli's Emergency Medicine: A Comprehensive Study Guide, 9e YR 2020 FD 2020 PB McGraw-Hill Education PP New York, NY SN 9781260019933 LK accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1166598259 RD 2024/04/17 AB In most patients, the physical examination confirms thoughts formulated during history taking that are often the key to patient evaluation. Time of onset, symptom progression, associated complaints, and exacerbating factors are important historical points to guide appropriate examination and testing. The neurologic examination does not exist in isolation from the general physical examination or imaging procedures, and it is unusual for the neurologic examination to delineate a problem not already suggested by the patient’s history or general physical examination. Few findings of the neurologic examination are pathognomonic of clinical conditions or are sufficiently specific that examination alone secures the diagnosis. Further complicating the value of the neurologic examination is that the sensitivity and specificity of different examination techniques have not been rigorously investigated, and the degree of interobserver variability is not known. The uncooperative patient or the patient with altered mental status presents additional challenges in performing a detailed examination.