1B general surgery in the GI tract Flashcards
What do we look for in regards to the patient’s PC (presenting complaint)?
- Pain assessment (SOCRATES)
- Associated symptoms
Other things to ask about:
- PMHx (past medical history)
- DHX (drug history)
- SHx (social history)
What range of investigations are there in general approach to acute abdomen?
- Bloods (VBG, FBC, CRP, U&Es (renal profile), LFTs + amylase)
- Urinalysis + urine MC&S –> check for UTI
- Imaging ( Erect CXR, AXR, CTAP, CT angiogram, USS)
- Endoscopy
What are the 3 approaches to management of abdominal assessment?
- ABCDE approach
- Airways
- Breathing
- Circulation
- Disability
- Exposure
- Conservative management
- Surgical management
What diseases are associated with RUQ pain?
- Bilary Colic
- Cholecystitis/Cholangitis
- Duodenal Ulcer
- Liver abscess
- Portal vein thrombosis
- Acute hepatitis
- Nephrolithiasis
- RLL pneumonia
What diseases are associated with epigastrium pain?
- Acute gastritis/GORD
- Gastroparesis
- Peptic ulcer disease/perforation
- Acute pancreatitis
- Mesenteric ischaemia
- AAA (Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm) Aortic dissection
- Myocardial infarction
What diseases are associated with LUQ pain?
- Peptic ulcer
- Acute pancreatitis
- Splenic abscess
- Splenic infarction
- Nephrolithiasis
- LLL Pneumonia
What diseases are associated with RLQ pain?
- Acute Appendicitis
- IBD
- Colitis
- Infectious colitis
- Ureteric stone/Pyelonephritis
- PID/Ovarian torsion
- Ectopic pregnancy
- Malignancy
What diseases are associated with suprapubic/central pain?
- Early appendicitis
- Mesenteric ischaemia
- Bowel obstruction
- Bowel perforation
- Constipation
- Gastroenteritis
- UTI/Urinary retention
- PID
What diseases are associated with LLQ pain?
- Diverticulitis
- IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease)
- Colitis
- Infectious colitis
- Ureteric stone/Pyelonephritis
- PID/Ovarian torsion
- Ectopic pregnancy
- Malignancy
How do patients present with bowel ischaemia?
- Sudden onset crampy abdominal pain
- Severity of pain depends on length and thickness of colon affected
- Bloody, loose stool (currant jelly stools)
- Fever, signs of septic shock
What are the risk factors of bowel ischaemia?
- Age >65 years
- Cardiac arrythmias (mainly AF), atherosclerosis
- Hypercoagulation/thrombophilia
- Vasculitis
- Sickle cell disease
- Profound shock causing hypotension (happens to patients undergoing cardiac surgery)
What are the 2 types of ischaemic bowel?
- Acute mesenteric ischaemia
- Ischaemic colitis
Which bowel does acute mesenteric ischaemia affect?
Large bowel
Which bowel does ischaemic colitis affect?
Large bowel
What is acute mesenteric ischaemia caused by?
Usually occlusive and secondary to thromboemboli
Who can thromboemboli happen in?
If someone has AF, a small clot can come and get blocked in SMA- superior mesenteric artery
If there’s complete obstruction of the SMA that’s really bad because you lose all of bowel from DJ flexure to splenic flexure- all of small bowel and 3/4 of large bowel
What is ischaemic colitis caused by?
Usually due to non-occlusive low flow states, or atherosclerosis
How is the onset for acute mesenteric ischaemia?
Sudden onset (but presentation and severity varies)
How is the onset for ischaemic colitis?
More mild and gradual (80-85% of cases)
What is the pain like for acute mesenteric ischaemia?
Abdominal pain out of proportion of clinical signs (often none at all)
What is the pain of ischaemic colitis like?
Moderate pain and tenderness
What 3 types of investigations do we do for bowel ischaemia?
- Bloods
- FBC - neutrophilic leukocytosis
- VBG - lactic acidosis
- Imaging
- CTAP/CT angiogram
- Endoscopy
- For mild or moderate cases of ischaemic colitis
What is lactic acidosis?
- A form of metabolic acidosis
- Associated with late stage mesenteric ischaemia and extensive transmural intestinal infarction
- late stage meaning bowel is already dead
What do CTAP/CT angiograms for bowel ischaemia detect?
- Disrupted flow
- Vascular stenosis
- Pneumatosis intestinalis (transmural ischaemia/infarction)
- Ischaemic colitis- a thumbprint sign (unspecific sign of colitis)
Image shows blood in white next to arrow coming to a complete stop
Light grey oval bowel just to right of middle of pic is healthy, the big dark grey bowel underneath is showing it isn’t getting blood
What do we look for in an endoscopy for bowel ischaemia?
- Oedema
- Cyanosis
- Ulceration of mucosa
What type of bowel ischaemia can we do conservative management for?
Mild to moderate cases of ischaemic colitis
What type of bowel ischaemia is conservative management not suitable for?
Acute mesenteric ischaemia
What does conservative management consist of?
- V fluid resuscitation
- Bowel rest (NBM)
- Broad spectrum ABx (Colonic ischaemia can result in bacterial translocation and sepsis)
- NG tube for decompression (They can get concurrent ileus- bowel is just not peristalsing)
- Anticoagulation
- Treat/manage underlying cause
- Serial abdominal exams and repeat imaging to check for changes and e.g. if you see peritonitis you don’t want to continue conservative management
What are the indications for surgical management of bowel ischaemia?
- Small bowel ischaemia
- Fulminant colitis with toxic megacolon
- Signs of peritonitis or sepsis
- Haemodynamic instability
- Massive bleeding
What is an exploratory laparotomy?
Opening abdomen up for exploration
What do we do in exploratory laparotomies for ischaemic bowel?
Resection of necrotic bowel with or without:
- open surgical embolectomy (putting balloon catheter in SMA to pull out thrombus)
- mesenteric arterial bypass (rare)
Image shows purple dead small bowel, with pink healthy large bowel at bottom of pic and relatively healthy small bowel on right side of pic
What is endovascular revascularisation?
- Another technique to try prior to surgery
- Balloon angioplasty/thrombectomy
- In patients without signs of ischaemia
How does acute appendicitis present?
- Initially periumbilical pain that migrates to RLQ (within 24 hours)
- Anorexia
- Nausea +/- vomiting
- Low grade fever
- Change in bowel habit
What is a good question to ask someone who has suspected appendicitis?
Do they feel like eating a meal- they always will say absolutely not
Why do patients with acute appendicitis present with a change in bowel habit?
Inflamed appendix in pelvis will be adjacent to rectum and could irritate rectum to alter bowel habit
What are important clinical signs to look out for in acute appendicitis?
- McBurney’s point
- Blumberg sign
- Rovsing sign
- Psoas sign
- Obturator sign
What is Mcburney’s point?
Tenderness in RLQ (lateral 1/3 of a hypothetical line drawn from the right ASIS to the umbilicus)
What is Blumberg sign?
Rebound tenderness (press down then release) especially in RIF
What is Rovsing sign?
RLQ pain elicited on deep palpation of the LLQ
What is Psoas sign?
RLQ pain elicited on flexion of right hip against resistance
What is obturator sign?
RLQ pain on passive internal rotation of the hip with hip and knee flexion