This fact highlights the need for increased awareness of what constitutes a proper neurological examination and what each specific finding suggests. The complexity of the neurologic examination, the interpretation of results, and the correlation to the neuroaxis are often challenging. Recognizing red flags can be challenging for physicians, particularly when it comes to neurologically related disorders. The physician can then refer the patient for appropriate diagnostic imaging and direct the management. An abnormal neurological examination can then direct the physician to the diagnosis (e.g., ataxic gait in this patient points to a cerebellar lesion). The presence of nausea and vomiting in the patient's history may still be present in migraines or may be a sign of increased intracranial pressure. A good example would be a patient who presents with chronic headaches, which can be a benign condition like migraine or life-threatening like a tumor. These red flags are picked up in history or during a neurological examination. This range of potentials highlights the importance of a physician's ability to recognize red flags early on in the disease processes. These can range from relatively benign to life-threatening conditions. Physicians encounter an extensive range of patients with different illnesses daily. The assessment of how a patient feels about their symptoms can provide a better insight into their quality of life. It is also important to keep in mind that the manifestation of certain neurologic illnesses can be vastly different in children and adults. In the examination of a pediatric patient, proper diagnoses begin with understanding which specific age groups are prone to developing certain disease processes. It is particularly challenging to perform in certain age groups like infants, younger children, and older uncooperative adults. The neurological exam can be intimidating and challenging to perform for most physicians. In emergent settings, rapid assessment of the severity of an injury and neurologic involvement is crucial and leads to fast decision-making in patient management, as well as improvement of patient survival rates. It is also beneficial in intensive care units, particularly in monitoring neurologic sequelae of diseases like strokes, intracranial tumors, and traumatic brain injury.

It provides the physician a tool to recognize neurologic involvement in certain disease states, and thereby allow proper work-up and treatment for these patients. The neurologic examination is useful in both ambulatory and emergency settings. Certain red flags during examination allow early detection of life-threatening neurologic diseases and recognize disorders that may negatively impact the quality of life. Neurological diseases can present a myriad of ways, including cognitive/behavioral, visual, motor, and sensory symptoms. It is beneficial in a variety of ways as it allows the localization of neurologic diseases and helps in ruling in or ruling out differential diagnoses. The neurological examination is an assessment tool to determine a patient's neurologic function.

Normal pupil size on neuro assessment