title: The patient with sore throat.
abstract: Sore throat is a common medical complaint seen by the emergency practitioner, internist, pediatrician, and otolaryngologist. The differential for sore throat is vast. However, with a directed history this can often be narrowed down to 2 to 3 possible diagnoses. By paying particular attention to the associated symptoms and duration of symptoms, common self-limited etiologies like viral pharyngitis and nonstreptococcal tonsillitis can be distinguished from those that require more investigation, such as supraglottitis and tonsillar cancer. A sore throat is most commonly caused by an infectious, inflammatory, or neoplastic etiologic factor.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, 5323 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75390-9035, USA. Teresa.chan@utsouthwestern.edu
authors.forename: Teresa V
authors.initials: TV
authors.lastname: Chan
mesh_terms: D004826:Epiglottitis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005764:Gastroesophageal Reflux / Q000150:complications; D006801:Humans; D007822:Laryngeal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis; D010610:Pharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis; D010612:Pharyngitis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000382:microbiology / Q000821:virology; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed