21 Ineffective Medical Procedures
21 treatments and tests that you don’t have to undergo
1. Chemotherapy can be provided to cancer patients as long as they reduce the symptoms of the disease, but treatments should be reduced if they are painful to the patients, as the pain may cause greater distress to the process of coping with the disease.
2. A person who has suffered minimal head injury does not have to undergo X-ray scanning, as it probably won’t be useful at all.
3. An X-ray won’t help you learn more about the medical condition of a person with lower back pain as long as he or she does not have any other pain.
4. A routine x-ray scan for cancer patients should be given only after a treatment that has helped them - otherwise, it won’t reveal any new or useful information.
5. In the event that a person arrives for intensive care, physical examinations must be done only to answer questions that arise from their condition, and not routinely.
6. People who undergo artificial respiration don’t have to be completely anesthetized. If possible, daily tests should be performed to verify how much anesthetic dosage can be reduced.
7. Children with flat head syndrome don’t have to be treated with a corrective helmet.
8. For children who suffer from chronic constipation, consider changes in diet to reduce symptoms before administering medication.
9. People who are supposed to have surgery don’t have to get to the hospital the day before, as long as they have already been evaluated and prepared before the operation, and in cases of minor surgery, pre-op preparation may not even be necessary.
10. For children with acute or normal bronchitis, a bronchodilator should not be used for treatment unless there is a situation that unquestionably requires this treatment.
11. Children who suffer from a small wrist fracture don’t need a cast on their whole hand. A stint that can be easily removed will work as efficiently.
12. People who have dislocated their hip or shoulder can get sedatives before starting treatment instead of general anesthesia.
13. Do not give a woman aspirin or progesterone to stabilize a pregnancy if she has undergone repeated or unexplained miscarriages in the past.
14. Pregnant women should not be given aspirin to contract their blood vessels.
15. A prostate-specific antigen test (PSA) will not help a person who is not at risk for prostate cancer due to family or ethnic history.
16. Do not use an ultrasound to determine whether the baby is larger than normal at a certain stage of pregnancy if the mother has diabetes.
17. People should have a calcium test only if they have symptoms that may indicate kidney inflammation, bone disease, or nerve-related disorders. In addition, it is not necessary to conduct another test sooner than 3 months after the previous one, except in severe cases, before surgery or if the patient suffers from a chronic illness. In any case, there is no need to repeat this test until 48 hours have passed since the previous test.
18. If an antidepressant that a patient has received hasn’t made a significant change in their condition after two months, consider changing medications.
19. A person diagnosed with psychosis should not undergo CT or MRI unless there are symptoms that may indicate a neurological problem.
20. For women over the age of 45, there is no need for a blood test to diagnose menopause.
21. Use of blood pressure medications to prevent heart disease or stroke should be considered only if the patient's blood pressure is above 140-159 / 90-99, and as long as there is another risk factor. more