Let me just start by saying this wasn't my patient but it got me thinking. If I was in this situation what would I have done? She was an out-patient who was well into her thrid trimester and presented with low back pain. The pain radiated down into the back of her leg. As part of her objecctive examination she was found to have increased muscle tightness in piriformis and her gluts. The treating physio decided to try STM and try and release the muscles which were tight. The following day the patient rang up saying that she could barely walk and the pain was constant all the time when she did walk. She was treeted again the following day and the problem resolved itself.
But it got me thinking. How would I react if I was the treating physio and would it be a simple problem to correct? It would require a good analysis of the initial Rx session and an evaluation as to the posible reasons for the resulting pain. I think it would require a fairly level head when a patient is questioning you on the phone and re-telling the symptoms. I'm still a bit unsure as to how I would react to a situation like this? And it seems to be a very real possibility because you can't be 100% right, 100% of the time!
Any other reactions to a situation like this??
2 comments:
I think its very hard to convince a patient that what treatment you did is right because at the same time we've got to convince ourselves. I think we just have to be confident, and hope tht what we do is right. Unfortunately we learn so well from our mistakes! We just got to do our best and with experience we will know how to deal with people when they question our Rx.
Yeah good post and comment, we can really only go on information that we obtain at the time and treat according to Ax findings. I think its important to not jump to the conclusion of our error, but concentrate on the new presentation and treat accordingly, which looks like wats happened. Ive seen a few pts the present like this and have had pretty good results from a STM of piriformis, so it could just be this pt. I suppose handling these situations and reactions just comes with confidence in your physio ability, and ability to concentrate on the new situation.
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