I was reading about Pulmonary Embolism for USMLE Step 2 CK and started typing notes for myself to refer. I thought I'd upload it for you guys to read as well.
Disclaimer: I am talking to myself in the blog. I hope it makes sense.
I'll be talking about two scenarios -
High pretest probability scenario: Dude who sat in a 24 hour flight, smokes a lot, is taking OCP's, got his hip replaced and can't move at all.
Low pretest probability scenario: Dude who is dyspneic, hypoxic and has a normal chest x-ray.
Let's start with scenario #1 - The high pretest probability:
If there's a high index of suspicion and a treatment option is given in the options, choose the treatment one because you don't want to waste time in imaging.
If there's a high index of suspicion and a treatment option is not given in the options, they want you to choose a diagnostic modality. The "next best step" in the diagnosis. What do you choose?