Abdomen and Gastrointestinal System

Abdomen and Gastrointestinal System

On your way home from dinner, you start experiencing sharp pains in your abdomen. You ate seafood—could you have food poisoning? What else might be causing your pain? Appendicitis? Should you head to the emergency room, or should you wait and see how you feel in the morning?

Numerous ailments can affect the GI system and the abdomen. Because the organs are so close, it can be difficult to conduct an accurate assessment. Also, pain in another area of the body can affect the GI system. For example, patients with chronic migraines often report nausea.

ABDOMINAL ASSESSMENT

Subjective:

· CC: “My stomach hurts, I have diarrhea and nothing seems to help.”

· HPI: JR, 47 yo WM, complains of having generalized abdominal pain that started 3 days ago. He has not taken any medications because he did not know what to take. He states the pain is a 5/10 today but has been as much as 9/10 when it first started. He has been able to eat, with some nausea afterwards.

· PMH: HTN, Diabetes, hx of GI bleed 4 years ago

· Medications: Lisinopril 10mg, Amlodipine 5 mg, Metformin 1000mg, Lantus 10 units qhs

· Allergies: NKDA

· FH: No hx of colon cancer, Father hx DMT2, HTN, Mother hx HTN, Hyperlipidemia, GERD

· Social: Denies tobacco use; occasional etoh, married, 3 children (1 girl, 2 boys)

Objective:

· VS: Temp 99.8; BP 160/86; RR 16; P 92; HT 5’10”; WT 248lbs

· Heart: RRR, no murmurs

· Lungs: CTA, chest wall symmetrical

· Skin: Intact without lesions, no urticaria

· Abd: soft, hyperactive bowel sounds, pos pain in the LLQ

· Diagnostics: None

Assessment:

· Left lower quadrant pain

· Gastroenteritis

all, J. W., Dains, J. E., Flynn, J. A., Solomon, B. S., & Stewart, R. W. (2019). Seidel's guide to physical examination: An interprofessional approach (9th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Mosby.

 

· Chapter 6, “Vital Signs and Pain Assessment” This chapter describes the experience of pain and its causes. The authors also describe the process of pain assessment.

 

· Chapter 18, “Abdomen” In this chapter, the authors summarize the anatomy and physiology of the abdomen. The authors also explain how to conduct an assessment of the abdomen.

Dains, J. E., Baumann, L. C., & Scheibel, P. (2019). Advanced health assessment and clinical diagnosis in primary care (6th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Mosby.

Credit Line: Advanced Health Assessment and Clinical Diagnosis in Primary Care, 6th Edition by Dains, J.E., Baumann, L. C., & Scheibel, P. Copyright 2019 by Mosby. Reprinted by permission of Mosby via the Copyright Clearance Center.

Chapter 3, “Abdominal Pain” This chapter outlines how to collect a focused history on abdominal pain. This is followed by what to look for in a physical examination in order to make an accurate diagnosis.

Chapter 10, “Constipation” The focus of this chapter is on identifying the causes of constipation through taking a focused history, conducting physical examinations, and performing laboratory tests.

Chapter 12, “Diarrhea” In this chapter, the authors focus on diagnosing the cause of diarrhea. The chapter includes questions to ask patients about the condition, things to look for in a physical exam, and suggested laboratory or diagnostic studies to perform.

Chapter 29, “Rectal Pain, Itching, and Bleeding” This chapter focuses on how to diagnose rectal bleeding and pain. It includes a table containing possible diagnoses, the accompanying physical signs, and suggested diagnostic studies.

Colyar, M. R. (2015). Advanced practice nursing procedures. Philadelphia, PA: F. A. Davis.

Credit Line: Advanced practice nursing procedures, 1st Edition by Colyar, M. R. Copyright 2015 by F. A. Davis Company. Reprinted by permission of F. A. Davis Company via the Copyright Clearance Center.

 

These sections below explain the procedural knowledge needed to perform gastrointestinal procedures.