Fever medical therapy: Difference between revisions

Jump to navigation Jump to search
(Created page with "__NOTOC__ {{Fever}} {{CMG}} ==Treatment== ===Medical Therapy=== Fever should not necessarily be treated. Fever is an important signal that there's something wrong in the body...")
 
m (Bot: Removing from Primary care)
 
(2 intermediate revisions by 2 users not shown)
Line 15: Line 15:
==References==
==References==
{{Reflist|2}}
{{Reflist|2}}
{{WH}}
{{WS}}


[[Category:Symptoms]]
[[Category:Signs and symptoms]]
[[Category:Emergency medicine]]
[[Category:Emergency medicine]]
[[Category:Physical examination]]
[[Category:Physical examination]]
[[Category:Infectious disease]]
[[Category:Primary care]]
[[Category:Needs overview]]
[[Category:Needs overview]]
{{WH}}
{{WS}}

Latest revision as of 21:45, 29 July 2020

Fever Microchapters

Home

Patient Information

Overview

Measurement of Body Temperature in Fever

Variations in Body Temperature

Pathophysiology

Classification

Fever of unknown origin

Causes

Usefulness of Fever

Diagnosis

History and Symptoms

Physical Examination

Laboratory Findings

Treatment

Medical Therapy

Primary Prevention

Secondary Prevention

Cost-Effectiveness of Therapy

Case Studies

Case #1

Fever medical therapy On the Web

Most recent articles

Most cited articles

Review articles

CME Programs

Powerpoint slides

Images

American Roentgen Ray Society Images of Fever medical therapy

All Images
X-rays
Echo & Ultrasound
CT Images
MRI

Ongoing Trials at Clinical Trials.gov

US National Guidelines Clearinghouse

NICE Guidance

FDA on Fever medical therapy

CDC on Fever medical therapy

Fever medical therapy in the news

Blogs on Fever medical therapy

Directions to Hospitals Treating Fever

Risk calculators and risk factors for Fever medical therapy

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

Treatment

Medical Therapy

Fever should not necessarily be treated. Fever is an important signal that there's something wrong in the body, and it can be used for follow-up. Moreover, not all fevers are of infectious origin.

Even when treatment is not indicated, however, febrile patients are generally advised to keep themselves adequately hydrated, as the dehydration produced by a mild fever can be more dangerous than the fever itself. Water is generally used for this purpose, but there is always a small risk of hyponatremia if the patient drinks too much water. For this reason, some patients drink sports drinks or products designed specifically for this purpose.

Most people take medication against fever because the symptoms cause discomfort. Fever increases heart rate and metabolism, thus potentially putting an additional strain on elderly patients, patients with heart disease, etc. This may even cause delirium. Therefore, potential benefits must be weighed against risks in these patients. In any case, fever must be brought under control in instances when fever escalates to hyperpyrexia and tissue damage is imminent.

Treatment of fever should be based primarily on lowering the set-point, but facilitating heat loss may also contribute. The former is accomplished with antipyretics. Wet cloth or pads are also used for treatment, and applied to the forehead. Heat loss may be an effect of (possibly a combination of) heat conduction, convection, radiation, or evaporation (sweating, perspiration). This may be particularly important in babies, where drugs should be avoided. However, if water that is too cold is used, it induces vasoconstriction and prevents adequate heat loss.

References

Template:WH Template:WS