Yersinia pestis infection physical examination
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
Overview
Apart from the presence of buboes, which are tender lymph nodes in patietns infected with bubonic plague, the physical examination findings are not specific to plague. Nonetheless, physical examination is crucial to evaluate for the presence of target organ damage or the progression and worsening of infection burden in these patients.
Physical Examination
General Appearance
Patients infected with plague are generally toxic-looking.
Vital Signs
- Fever is invariably present in all patients
- Tachycardia
- Tachypnea
- Hypotension in septicemic plague
HEENT
- Pharyngeal erythema
- Tonsilar enlargement
- Meningismus in plague complicated by meningitis
Skin
- Papules, pustules, ulcers, or vesicles surrounded by local erythema at site of infection
- Fixed tender lymphadenopathy of 1-10 cm in diameter in bubonic plague that may be present anywhere: Axillary, cervical, postauricular, inguinal, epitrochlear, or popliteal. Lymph nodes may demonstrate fluctuance, suppuration, and may eventually drain.
Abdomen
- Intra-abdominal buboes may present with abdominal tenderness, guarding, or signs of peritoneal irritation, such as rebound tenderness and abdominal rigidity.
- Hepatomegaly
Extremities
- Black gangrenous distal upper and lower extremities
- Warm skin in septic patients
- Petechiae in patients with disseminated intravascular coagulopathy (DIC)