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The Telemedicine Thoracic Spine Exam

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Telemedicine for the Musculoskeletal Physical Exam

Abstract

This chapter will review aspects of care on a telemedicine visit for the thoracic spine. The opening starts with the history of present illness with prompts specific to the thoracic spine. The next section discusses how to perform a physical exam for the thoracic spine over telemedicine. Lastly, there is a section describing a broad differential diagnosis for thoracic spine complaints and red flag symptoms to rule out.

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Spinner, D.A., Varlotta, C.A., Laurent, A. (2023). The Telemedicine Thoracic Spine Exam. In: Zakhary, M., Cooper, G., Herrera, J. (eds) Telemedicine for the Musculoskeletal Physical Exam. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-16873-4_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-16873-4_5

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-16872-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-16873-4

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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