Customer Reviews

The Four-Minute Neurologic Exam

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This slim volume, an expansion from an American Family Physician journal article, attempts to come up with essentially a "bare bones" exam - a process that could be completed within a time-pressed patient visit (and what patient visit is NOT time pressed). I believe that it accomplishes what it sets out to do, but it really doesn't add anything new to your existing exam. I learned a few things from this book, but almost everything is either in your physical examination book or neurology book. It perhaps would make a nice pocket book, except it isn't pocket sized. In conclusion, not a bad book to read through once, but I am not sure if it is worth buying.

This book is a GEM! It is most useful for a medical student, intern, physician assistant, nurse practitioner or neuro nurse. What it does best is take away the intimidation associated with doing a Neuro exam and not missing something important on a "normal" patient when time is short.

The opening statement of the preface says it best... "NEURO WNL" (the neuro exam is within normal limits" is commonly the last notation on a physical exam report".... [This means] the patient looked OK to all superficial appearances and had no particular neuro complaints. The physician can be trapped into this [superficial] approach, when there is inadequate time [for] the 20 minute exam suggested for patients with no neurological complaints".

This book is for the nonneurologist. It focuses on how to cover everything WHEN TIME IS LIMITED. Chapter 1 covers principles of neurological localization. It discusses clinically relevant anatomic points in neuroanatomy that are important in localizing a lesion. It also discusses how to determine if symptoms are malingering or psychogenic or real based on whether the physical exam fits the symptoms... ie. whether it makes neuroanatomical sense. What is suggested in this book is not a substitute for a more formal neuro exam found in other textbooks. It is intended to be the answer to the "Neuro WNL" problem.

It is so simple in it's approach which I have not seen elsewhere. It also has simple diagrams. The chapters include: Principles of neurological localization, the history, the neuro examination, lab tests. The last page of the book is a one page summary that is pocket sized from the days when we carried it all in our pocket instead of a PDA ;)

Bought this book as an intern in internal medicine and wished I had bought it as a medical student! This is the book I recommend to friends not in the neurology specialty who need a refresher on their clinical neurological examination.

I'd say it's somehwere between 3 and 4 start.

This is nice for a very brief review, but leaves a lot of common diagnosises out. I found Neuro examination made easy to be a better review. That said, I do like the full body picks with symptoms where you have to guess the diagnossis and then it gives the answer and explains why. They are very basic, but get the point across well. Would make for good test questions

Absolutely outstanding little book. Very easy to understand, the author did an amazing job. Most neurology books are loaded with technical wording and there usually boring. This book invites you to read and learn. Congratulations.