Assignment Task:
Respond to the following peer post by using engaging dialogue, by asking questions and by adding insight:
Describe your assigned client's situation. Why are they presenting to the clinic? What medications are they currently taking?
My patient is Ohon Kimathi. Ohon is a 58-year-old male complaining of the need to strain with urination, a weak urine stream, and dribbling at the end of urination over the past 3 months. He feels he is not fully emptying his bladder. His International Prostate Symptom Score showed moderate symptoms. He was noted to have a smooth prostate on exam and the rest of his physical exam was normal. He is considered overweight with a BMI of 27.7. His vital signs were normal. There were no signs of infection or cancer with urine or blood work. He does have a history of elevated cholesterol and takes atorvastatin, 40mg daily for this. He has no known drug allergies. He has never smoked and drinks alcohol approximately twice per month. Following his teing and exam, he is diagnosed with BPH.
Assess the applicable clinical practice guideline (CPG) for your assigned client. What treatment i recommended by the CPG for your client's situation?
The clinical practice guideline recommends an alpha-blocker such as tamsulosin (Flomax) or doxazosin (Cardura) as initial treatment for BPH with lower urinary tract symptoms (Sandhu et al., 2024).
Discuss your personal professional assessment of the client's situation provided in the scenario. What pharmacological treatment is necessary and why?
I agree that the patient has BPH with moderate lower urinary tract symptoms and needs to follow the clinical practice guidelines' recommendations for initial treatment with an alpha blocker. He should start with the alpha blocker tamsulosin (Flomax) at the lowest dose, 0.4mg daily to see if this can improve his symptoms to a tolerable level. The plan would be to follow up with him in 3 months to reassess his symptom control with the tamsulosin unless he had any concerns prior to that time (Sandhu et al., 2024).
Reflect on additional questions you have about your assigned client that may influence treatment. What else do you want to know? What follow-up assessments, labs, or conversations are required to ensure optimal health outcomes?
I would like to know if this patient is having any symptoms of erectile dysfunction. If he is already having these concerns, he may need treatment for this alongside the tamsulosin as this is also a side effect of this medication (Burchum & Rosenthal, 2025). Although he does report taking Atorvastatin, I would like to make sure he's not taking any over the counter medications or supplements that he may not have reported that could cause urinary symptoms. I would also want to make sure he's following basic management guidelines such as avoiding caffeine, avoiding fluids before bed, and avoiding alcohol to ensure the best possible symptom control.
I would follow up with him after 3 months on this medication, unless he had any concerns prior to that time. I would plan to follow up with him on his continued symptom management at least yearly after that to ensure the medication is working well and he is not having any new symptoms that require may a change of therapy. Need Assignment Help?