Use of Physician-Guided Patient Self-Examination to Diagnose Appendicitis: A Telemedicine Case Report

Abstract

Background:

Direct-to-consumer (DTC) telemedicine platforms have been increasingly implemented by large hospital systems. This care delivery mechanism shares similarities with bedside medical care, but also differs in key attributes such as the inability to perform a “hands-on” physical examination.

Methods:

We present a case of DTC telehealth evaluation that resulted in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis. The case of one female patient presenting to our urgent care mobile application and subsequently to the emergency department (ED) is discussed.

Results:

Physician-guided patient self-examination of the abdomen demonstrated concordance with findings on bedside physical examination in the ED, leading to the correct diagnosis of acute appendicitis.

Conclusions:

For the patient presented here, physician-guided patient self-examination resulted in appropriate referral to the ED and diagnosis of appendicitis. Additional research on the reproducibility of virtual physical examination findings and potential cost savings of telemedicine visits is warranted.