Physical examination
A clinical assessment in which a healthcare professional examines a person’s body to evaluate health, identify abnormalities, or guide diagnosis.
Inspection (medicine): The systematic visual observation of a person’s body for signs of health or disease. Visible features such as skin color, posture, and movement provide initial examination findings.
Medical history: A structured account of a person’s symptoms, past health, medications, and relevant family and social factors. The history helps determine which body systems and findings deserve focused attention.
Routine physical examination: A scheduled assessment of general health, often including history, vital signs, and selected examination maneuvers. It uses examination to review health even when no single urgent complaint dominates.
Diagnostic test: A procedure or measurement used to detect, confirm, or exclude a disease or condition. Laboratory and imaging tests can provide evidence beyond what bedside examination reveals.
Clinical diagnosis: The identification of a disease or condition through assessment of clinical evidence. Examination findings can support or redirect the diagnosis reached from the full clinical picture.
Palpation: Examination by touching the body to assess features such as tenderness, texture, temperature, and organ size. Touch can reveal findings that visual observation cannot, including tenderness and masses.
Physical sign: An objective finding observed or measured during clinical assessment. A physical sign is the observable evidence produced by examination.
Focused physical examination: An examination directed at a particular symptom, body region, or suspected condition. It concentrates maneuvers on the question raised by the presentation.
Medical imaging: Techniques that create images of internal body structures for diagnosis and clinical assessment. Imaging reveals anatomy inside the body without relying solely on external examination.
Informed consent: A voluntary agreement to care or a procedure made after receiving relevant information and understanding its implications. Patients must be able to understand and agree to examination, especially intimate or sensitive maneuvers.