expectant management is to treat a condition that is likely to happen before you are certain that it will. For example, when a child comes in with a sore throat, the doc may culture it and start them on antibiotics IN CASE it is strep throat. then, if it is NOT - they will call the patient and tell them to stop the medication, or if it is some other treatable condition that a different medication might work better for, they will call and change the medication. So...basically it is to treat a condition that is likely before you know for sure.