Table 1 Case of young woman, complaining of right lower quadrant pain
A 25-year old, clearly ill patient. She is brought to the ER by her husband. She complains of excruciating pain in the right lower quadrant; she has nausea, but she has not vomited. | ||||||
If you were thinking of … | ||||||
… the following diagnosis … | … and the following new information were to become … | … this hypothesis would become … | ||||
acute appendicitis | patient vomits | −2 | −1 | 0 | +1 | +2 |
ectopic pregnancy | the pain started suddenly two hours ago | −2 | −1 | 0 | +1 | +2 |
ovarian torsion | Beta–HCG: 820 U/l (norm: < 5 U/l) | −2 | −1 | 0 | +1 | +2 |
−2: very unlikely / -1: unlikely / 0: neither likely nor unlikely / +1 more likely / +2 very likely | ||||||
If you were considering the utility of … | ||||||
… the following treatment … | … and the following new information were to become … | … this treatment would become … | ||||
explorative laparoscopy | mass behind the urinary bladder | −2 | −1 | 0 | +1 | +2 |
−2: strongly contraindicated / -1: contraindicated / 0: neither more or less indicated / +1 indicated / +2 strongly indicated | ||||||