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Revision as of 20:54, 26 September 2006
- This article is about vital signs in medicine. For other uses of the term, see Vital signs (disambiguation).
Vital signs are often taken by health professionals in order to assess the most basic body functions. Vital signs are an essential part of a case presentation.
Primary four
There are four vital signs which are standard in most medical settings:
- temperature examination for normal temperature
- pulse rate (or heart rate)
- blood pressure
- respiratory rate
The equipment needed is a thermometer, a sphygmomanometer, and a watch.
Though a pulse can often be taken by hand, a stethoscope may be required for a patient with a very weak pulse.
Additional signs
Fifth sign
The phrase "fifth vital sign" usually refers to pain, as perceived by the patient on a Pain scale of 1-10. For example, the Veterans Administration made this their policy in 1999. However, some doctors have noted that pain is actually a subjective symptom, not an objective sign, and therefore object to this classification.
Other sources include pulse oximetry as their fifth sign.
Sixth sign
There is no standard "sixth vital sign", and the use is much more informal and discipline-dependent than with the above, but some proposals (excluding the fifth sign candidates above) include: