Case Study of Claire’s Condition (Health, Medicine, Nursing Essay)

Case Study of Claire’s Condition
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Case Study of Claire’s Condition
In this case study, Ms. Smith has presented her daughter, Claire, to a clinic. She is 18-months old. Ms. Smith describes the child’s condition and recent symptoms, seeking medical attention. Since such symptoms suggest that Claire might be suffering from otitis media or cerumen impaction, the physical assessment and diagnostic tests that would be conducted are presented. Although the symptoms of the two are similar, the Rinne test would show Claire is suffering from otitis media.
1. Inclusions in Claire’s Physical Assessment
The first assessment would focus on her appearance. Owing to the symptoms described by Ms. Smith, Claire could be suffering from acute otitis media. The assessment would seek to see if she is ill-appearing due to the accompanying symptoms (Hersh et al., 2016). If she is well-appearing, then it could be otitis media with effusion.
Her ears would also be assessed through otoscopic examination to establish whether or not any of the following signs are present; effusion, erythema in the middle ear, tympanic membrane bulging or cloudy appearance, or perforation and immobility of the membrane (Won et al., 2020). Tympanometry will be assessed to establish if she has lost hearing due to effusion. Further, vital signs would also be assessed. Claire has fever, which is characteristic of acute otitis media.
2. Diagnostic Tests for Claire
An otoscope would be used look into Claire’s ears and detect swelling, redness, pus, blood, air bubbles, fluid in her middle ear, or eardrum perforation (Don et al., 2020). This could explain the pulling of ears.
Tympanometry would also be ordered, in which the doctor would use a small instrument in measuring the air pressure in Claire’s ear and then determine whether or not her eardrum is ruptured (Binol et al., 2020).
Reflectometry would also be conducted, in which the doctor would use a small instrument which makes sound near Claire’s ear (Muscatello et al., 2020). This will help in determining if or not there is fluid in the ear. The doctor would listen to sound reflection from the ear. Further, a hearing test would be ordered to determine whether Claire is experiencing hearing loss.
3. Differential Diagnoses in this case
Otitis media with effusion; effusion of the middle ear is typically asymptomatic. On otoscopy, the patient could have an effusion of any air fluid levels, color, or bubbles (Wu et al., 2020). As such, this diagnosis would help establish whether or not Claire has suffered the same.
Myringitis; Claire may not have assigns attributed to the middle ear. On otoscopy, Claire could have erythema and injection in her tympanic membrane in its neutral position without any further symptoms (Sattar & Sharma, 2020).
Mastoiditis; this would help if Claire has erythema, edema, and tenderness during the mastoid process. This would be based on her examination and history (Sattar & Sharma, 2020). A CT scan could also be conducted if the symptoms deteriorate.
4. Recurrent effusions in a Pediatric Patient; Potential Sequel
Such an individual would show various symptoms such as che...