Diagnosing Headache in Primary Care: Red Flags

 

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Show notes:

Patients who come into primary care for a headache are often worried that it’s something very serious – and it’s your job to know whether it is or not. Many headaches are nothing overly serious, but as a new grad, it can be hard to know just how concerned to be and what to do with your concern.

Diagnosing Headache Red Flags in Primary Care

Let’s build your confidence and demystify some of the grey areas of headaches. In this video, we’ll cover:

✅ A simple tool that you can use to guide your visit, assessment, and plan

✅ Specific headache red flags, and what to do if you encounter them

✅ When to worry and what to worry about

✅ When to refer patients out

Headaches in a primary care setting can be confusing when you are getting started, but the more you see and the more you manage, the more clarity that you will gain. Use these tips to prepare for your next headache patient and be confident in your assessment, treatment, and referral. 

SNOOP10 acronym:

  • Systemic symptoms including fever

  • Neoplasm history

  • Neurologic deficit (including decreased consciousness)

  • Onset is sudden or abrupt

  • Older age (onset after age 50 years)

  • Pattern change or recent onset of new headache

  • Positional headache

  • Precipitated by sneezing, coughing, or exercise

  • Papilledema

  • Progressive headache and atypical presentations

  • Pregnancy or puerperium

  • Painful eye with autonomic features

  • Post-traumatic onset of headache

  • Pathology of the immune system such as HIV

  • Painkiller (analgesic) overuse (eg, medication overuse headache) or new drug at onset of headache

Resources mentioned in this episode:

  • WEBVTT

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    Hey there, welcome to the Real World NP podcast.

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    I'm Liz Rohr, family nurse practitioner, educator, and founder of Real World NP, an educational

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    company for nurse practitioners in primary care.

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    I'm on a mission to equip and guide new nurse practitioners so that they can feel

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    capable and take the best care of their patients.

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    the right place.

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    Plus, you'll find links to all the episodes with extra goodies over at realworldnp.com

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    podcast.

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    So we are going to talk today about red flags of headaches.

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    So headaches are a doozy of a chief complaint because there's such a broad differential,

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    like so many of the topics I've talked about an episode so far.

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    Headaches are really our tricky one.

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    So the reason I want to focus on red flags in this episode is because the way that

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    we get to that confident place of like, you know what, this is what I think this

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    headache is from.

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    Here are the differentials.

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    I'm pretty confident going forward.

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    The way that we get there is it's just a gradual process like most of the really

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    tricky chief complaints.

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    We have to start with the kind of basics, the old cart, onset location, duration,

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    all those history questions.

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    And then understanding the red flags of headaches keeps us safe.

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    And then as we build out our knowledge, we can be like, oh, okay.

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    So like spontaneous, you know, intercranial hypotension.

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    I know all about that, right?

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    Like, come on.

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    We're going to learn about that as we go, right?

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    And so the red flags are like those kind of anchoring pieces of like, okay,

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    maybe I don't know all the things about spontaneous intercranial hypotension,

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    right?

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    But like, you know what, we're going to, we're just going to watch out

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    for it, right?

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    So anyway, I want to talk about some red flags.

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    So specifically what I want to focus on is an acronym, which you may or

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    may not be familiar with.

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    It's called, it's had a lot of names, but it's like the snoop acronym.

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    So snoop 10, I think is the most updated one.

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    And I want to walk through that and kind of give some examples of context.

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    So snoop, right?

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    S is the first one.

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    So the first thing you want to watch out for when it comes to a headache is,

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    do they have any systemic symptoms?

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    Do they have other things going on in their body, right?

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    Even if you aren't, you know what, you're not like,

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    like listing off all of those differentials, right?

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    Is there anything systemic going on?

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    Do they have a fever or chills?

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    Most specifically, right?

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    Do they have a rash?

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    Do they have like other things going on?

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    And that can be tied into things like meningitis, for example.

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    So first things first, start with the S.

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    I got my little notes over here.

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    There's two ends.

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    The first most important end, they kind of like, these are some hopefully like

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    helpful hack pathways that you can be like, at least even if I don't know all of the

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    differentials, I know these red flags, right?

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    The next one is neurologic symptoms, neurologic deficits.

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    So whenever I was a new grad, and even to this day,

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    when I have a patient with a headache and I'm not quite sure what to do with them,

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    the first question is, how is their neuro exam?

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    If I didn't present that information to the person already.

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    So neurologic exam is going to be so, so important.

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    Anybody with a headache, we really want to be mindful of their neurologic status.

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    Do they have any focal deficits?

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    The next one is a history of neoplasm.

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    So we want to be mindful of, do they have a history of cancer?

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    Could this be a brain tumor?

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    And I want to pause there and say that pretty much every patient that comes in

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    is worried about something that severe.

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    It's our job to be worried about it.

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    It is not a common reason, but it is an important history question to ask

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    in the context of a person with a headache.

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    So with O's, there's two O's, so snoop.

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    So two ends, two O's.

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    So one of them is older age, which older is subjective, right?

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    But basically it's referring to any patient over the age of 50.

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    And a new onset of a headache over the age of 50 just has another level,

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    another layer of differentials that could be more severe.

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    And so it's just one piece to keep in mind with a red flag.

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    Somebody who is the age of 50 or older with a headache

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    does not necessarily mean that this is a red flag.

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    They need urgent imaging.

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    You have to send them to the ED.

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    It's just one piece of information to keep in mind.

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    Oh, the other O is really important.

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    So these are all important, obviously.

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    But maybe I'll keep saying they're all important.

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    I don't know.

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    So this second O though has to do with onset.

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    So abrupt onset is very concerning with a headache.

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    So that's what you've probably learned about

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    or maybe even seen in real life so far of a thunderclap headache.

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    So something that happened immediately, quick onset,

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    especially in the context of somebody who was like exercising

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    or doing some sort of exertion and then had this sudden,

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    severe onset of a headache,

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    that could be some sort of vascular condition.

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    So it's really important to be mindful of the abrupt onset patients.

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    Okay, so the rest of them are P's.

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    There are 10 P's.

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    There used to be a couple of P's

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    and it feels like they just keep adding them.

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    But it's nice at least that they're the same letter, right?

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    So pattern change or a recent new onset.

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    So this is again, this in and of itself is not necessarily an emergency.

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    It's just a helpful context of like,

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    when you're talking to somebody who has a headache,

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    is this a headache that you've had before?

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    Do you have headaches like this?

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    Or is this drastically different than what you've had before?

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    Because when there is a changing pattern,

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    especially if it's progressive,

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    that is more concerning for something more organically dangerous.

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    Positional headache.

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    So this one, I feel like I would get this when I was a new grad.

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    I would present my case and then my colleague would be like,

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    well, was it positional?

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    I'd be like, what are you talking about?

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    So this is referring to somebody who's laying flat or standing up.

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    It's worse when they stand up

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    and then better when they're laying flat

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    is typically the scenario that we're talking about.

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    And this has to do with the zebra that I mentioned

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    of spontaneous intercranial hypotension or CSF leak

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    or some sort of more concerning acute process.

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    So even if you're not comfortable with all the differentials

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    of like what positional could mean,

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    just keeping that in mind as part of your history taking.

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    The other context I want to make that I want to set around that,

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    and I'm going to be making another video about migraines specifically,

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    it's not necessarily that like the movement around is troublesome

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    because there are patients who have migraines, for example,

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    and exertion makes it worse because they just,

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    it's just a throbbing headache that if they're going for a walk,

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    it's going to make it worse.

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    So that's not necessarily what I mean by positional

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    or what's meant by positional.

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    It has to do with position changes.

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    There's a distinct difference between the position change

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    that causes some sort of difference in their symptoms.

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    Let's go for another P.

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    So this is precipitated by sneezing, coughing, or exercise.

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    I've already kind of mentioned this already,

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    but when you have somebody who has a very sudden onset,

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    especially in the context of that sort of exertional episode,

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    that could be a vascular cause.

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    Another P, papillodema.

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    So this is a very challenging one

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    where pretty much anybody who has a headache,

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    you're going to do a focal neuro exam, full head to toe,

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    probably in terms of your neurologic exam

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    that you're going to be focused on.

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    Papillodema is important to take a look

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    at the intracranial pressure and all that.

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    It is a very challenging exam to master.

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    Just do your very best to keep on practicing

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    and always ask for help if you need it.

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    Another P, progressive history or atypical presentations.

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    It's sort of similar to what I've already said,

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    but the context of people is that they...

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    Like most of the time, patients who have headaches

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    can tell you what their history is,

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    versus if this is like a brand new,

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    they've never had this type of headache before,

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    definitely tread cautiously.

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    Pregnancy, 100%.

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    Anytime I have a patient who is pregnant with a headache,

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    I'm getting somebody else involved

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    because there are more other things to be considered

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    for a patient who is pregnant,

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    and it could be a lot more serious.

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    Post-traumatic onset, another P.

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    So if somebody has some sort of head injury

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    or some sort of trauma,

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    and then they get the severe headache,

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    that is much more concerning.

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    Painful eye.

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    If somebody has a painful eye,

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    it could be more associated

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    with like another sort of underlying condition.

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    So two more P's.

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    So pathology of the immune system.

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    So if somebody has something like HIV

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    or something underlying with their immune system going on,

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    and they have a severe headache,

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    they just have a lot more medical complexity

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    to keep in mind,

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    and it really broadens the differential diagnosis.

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    So again, it's not that the patient has, for example, HIV,

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    it's just that it's introducing a broader differential

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    that could be a higher risk.

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    So the last P is painkiller overuse.

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    And I don't know, I don't...

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    This is not necessarily a red flag,

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    but I'm sure you are familiar

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    with medication overuse headaches.

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    So it's just one extra thing to kind of keep in mind

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    that we just want to be mindful of,

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    but it's not necessarily you need to send them

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    to the ED right now.

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    So of those snoop tens,

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    who needs urgent evaluation?

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    Pretty much, there's a couple...

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    We can kind of siphon it down a little bit more.

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    So sudden thunderclap headaches

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    where it's like a rapid onset.

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    I know it's a difficult decision

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    to make to send somebody to the ER,

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    but most of the time,

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    I mean, those patients need to go.

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    The other one is like a first or worst headache

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    of their life.

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    You really want to tread cautiously.

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    I've been in that uncomfortable situation

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    of like, do I send them?

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    Do I not send them?

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    That is one potential area to consider.

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    The deciding factor in those types of situations

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    is typically their neurologic exam.

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    So if you have any focal neurodeficits,

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    those patients definitely need emergent care and imaging.

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    The other context that you want to think

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    about emergent care for patients are

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    when they have things like

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    if you're worried about a meningitis

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    or encephalitis,

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    they have a neck pain,

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    they have systemic symptoms,

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    especially with focal neurologic deficits.

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    And if you also have any periorbital symptoms as well,

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    like we just,

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    we don't want to mess around in that area.

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    And then the last thing is,

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    this is a pretty rare one,

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    but is there any possible carbon monoxide poisoning?

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    Hopefully you've gotten that in your history

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    in terms of the context of what's going on

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    for their evaluation.

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    But those are for the most part,

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    the reasons that those patients

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    would need emergency evaluation.

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    So down below,

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    I'm going to write a little list

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    of all of the SNOOP acronyms.

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    So you can just kind of copy and paste that,

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    and you can put that into your HPI.

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    And then hopefully that will kind of help you

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    trigger those types of questions.

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    And hopefully in this video,

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    I've kind of fleshed out that acronym

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    a little bit more for context

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    so that you can apply it more comfortably.

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    And again, you have to do your due diligence

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    of assessing the underlying reason for the headaches.

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    But if you can incorporate

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    or start incorporating that acronym

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    in terms of your red flags,

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    you can at least comfortably say,

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    hey, we can take a pause.

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    We can evaluate further.

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    We can try some medications.

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    We can do more assessment.

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    We don't have to do anything emergent

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    in terms of imaging or referrals

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    or anything like that.

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    So if you haven't grabbed the ultimate resource guide,

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    head over to realworldnp.com slash guide.

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    00:12:00.540 --> 00:12:02.520

    You'll get these episodes sent straight to your inbox

    272

    00:12:02.520 --> 00:12:03.860

    every week with notes from me,

    273

    00:12:04.080 --> 00:12:05.120

    patient stories and bonuses

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    00:12:05.120 --> 00:12:07.080

    I really just don't share anywhere else.

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    00:12:07.120 --> 00:12:08.820

    Thank you so much for tuning in.

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    We'll talk to you soon.

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    That's our episode for today.

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    Thank you so much for listening.

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    Make sure you subscribe,

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    00:12:17.960 --> 00:12:18.580

    leave a review,

    281

    00:12:18.740 --> 00:12:20.480

    and tell all your NP friends

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    so together we can help

    283

    00:12:21.940 --> 00:12:24.260

    as many nurse practitioners as possible

    284

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    give the best care to their patients.

    285

    00:12:26.420 --> 00:12:28.080

    If you haven't gotten your copy

    286

    00:12:28.080 --> 00:12:30.680

    of the ultimate resource guide for the new NP,

    287

    00:12:31.100 --> 00:12:34.220

    head over to realworldnp.com slash guide.

    288

    00:12:34.640 --> 00:12:35.960

    You'll get these episodes

    289

    00:12:35.960 --> 00:12:37.840

    sent straight to your inbox every week

    290

    00:12:37.840 --> 00:12:39.240

    with notes from me,

    291

    00:12:39.620 --> 00:12:40.140

    patient stories,

    292

    00:12:40.320 --> 00:12:41.320

    and extra bonuses

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    00:12:41.320 --> 00:12:43.440

    I really just don't share anywhere else.

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    00:12:43.860 --> 00:12:45.420

    Thank you so much again for listening.

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    00:12:45.580 --> 00:12:46.800

    Take care and talk soon.

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