Hani Almoallim - Skills in Rheumatology

This is a book that deals with the daily practice of rheumatology! We did not write it just to make another book! It is not a book to be added to the list that already exists on the shelf! It is a small practical one, in which we rather focus on the skills that the physician, the patient, or caregiver might need to take care of rheumatologic complaints and diseases!

Many junior staff start working in Rheumatology or see patients with arthritis may find themselves incompetent in basic skills while evaluating such patients. This book provides a comprehensive yet simple guide for junior or senior staff to deal with rheumatology patients.

You do not need to read the whole book to get its benefits nor do you need to read it linearly. You just need to read the relevant section you are interested in. For example, if you just need to know how to examine the small joints of the hands, you can go directly to musculoskeletal (MSK) examination chapter: hands examination or if you need to know details about a biological drugs used in Rheumatology, you can go directly to the pharmacology chapter: biological drugs. In other words, you may determine in advance what you need to master each time you hold the book!

The book consists of three parts. The first part is about basic skills in rheumatology. There is a comprehensive approach to history taking of patients with arthritis. We suggest this approach on the basis of differential diagnosis. Any patient with arthritis needs a comprehensive MSK examination, laboratory evaluation, pharmacological drugs analysis and radiological assessment. (You may just need to know what drugs are the patient taking especially if he/she has an established diagnosis of arthritis?). We put special emphasis on low back pain, as there is a distinctive approach to this complaint. There is a significant delay that may reach 710 years before one can diagnose a patient with diseases characterized by inflammatory back pain like ankylosing spondylitis (AS).

The second part of the book is designed to address common medical problems affecting patients with arthritis. It is truly said that to be good in rheumatology you need to be good in internal medicine! Rheumatologic diseases are systemic diseases affecting nearly all body systems. This comprehensive approach to common medical problems should emphasize the readers skills not only in Rheumatology but also in general internal medicine. A reader can approach this part at any point. If a systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patient has anemia, there is a hematology chapter one can go to directly to; or if another SLE patient has headaches, stroke, and/or other neurological complaints, just read the chapter that deals with how to approach neurological complaints that contain elegant flow chart, tables, and diagnostic algorithms. There is also a chapter about pediatric Rheumatology highlighting the essential issues in dealing with rheumatic diseases in this young age group.

The last part of the book is a compilation of recent recommendations for management guidelines and current classification criteria in Rheumatology. Lately, there has been a tremendous progress in the practice of Rheumatology worldwide. This has resulted in the introduction of new recommendations for the management and classification criteria. We tried to bring in this part all efforts that have been produced to enhance the practice of Rheumatology. However, if you need to read further details about the management of a particular disease beyond the guidelines, you would need to read from recent medical literature.

To sum up: this book is a practical guide designed for building your skills in dealing with Rheumatology patients. We focus on diagnostic approaches to medical problems. You may find more than one style in the different chapters you are going to read. This is because each contributor thought about the best approach to deliver the contents. This may explain partly the variations in writing styles in some chapters. Dealing with a patient with a skin condition in rheumatology may not have the same approach as when dealing with a patient with shortness of breath. We offer variety of approaches to entertain the reader.