Question

Patient comes back 2 weeks later with severe redness and inflammation now on one of his legs. The physician is confused since the passive leg raise test did not resolve the erythema. What do you conclude?

a)The infection has progressed
b) It's a different type of infection
c)The passive leg raise was performed incorrectly
d)The patient didn't follow treatment

Answer 1

Severe redness and inflammation might indicate that the infection has progressed, there could be a new type of infection present, the passive leg raise test may have been done incorrectly, or the patient might not have followed the treatment correctly.

Step-by-step explanation:

If a patient returns with severe redness and inflammation on one of his legs despite a passive leg raise test that did not resolve the erythema, a few conclusions can be drawn. It's possible that the infection has progressed, meaning the pathogens causing the infection have continued to multiply and spread, perhaps due to antibiotic resistance or a virulent strain of bacteria. Alternatively, it may indicate a different type of infection that wasn't initially detected; for example, a fungal infection or another bacterial pathogen may be responsible for the symptoms. Another explanation could be that the passive leg raise was performed incorrectly, thus not alleviating the symptoms as expected, or that the patient didn't follow treatment protocols properly which could include incomplete dosage of medications or failure to follow other medical advice.