Abdominal assessment and bowel elimination Flashcards
assessment of abdomen
look and listen first!
common findings of abdominal inspection
abdominal distention, fat, flatus, fluid, fetus, fetces, fibroid.
Scaphoid (concave) abdomen: malnourishment
Abdominal inspection continued.
Localized enlargements; hernias (bulge), tumor, cyst, bowl obstruction.
Visible pulsations: may be normal in epigastric area in some individuals; marked pulsation may indicate AAA (abdominal Aortic anyeurism)
Abdominal skin
Normal: Homogeneous color is normal with smooth texture.
-Observe for color changes,
lesions and rashes
Scars r/t trauma or surgeries
Straie (stretch marks) related to pregnancies, rapid growth, cushings, obesity
Cullens sign
perimbilical bleeding and turners sign (flank bleeding) associated with hemorrhagic pancreatitis, trauma, leaking AAA, coagulopathy, or ruptured ectopic pregnancy
organs in each region
RUQ
- right lobe of the liver
- gallbladder
- pylons
- duodenum
- head of pancreas
- hepatic flexure of the colon
LUQ
- left lobe of the liver
- spleen
- stomach
- body and tail of the pancreas
- splenic flexure of the colon
- portions of the transverse and descending colon
RLQ-
- cecum and appendix
- portion of the ascending colon
LLQ
- sigmoid colon
- portion of the descending colon
Auscultation Bowel sounds
- note character and frequency
- bowel sounds: movement of air and fluid through the small intestine
- depending on the time elapsed since eating, a wide range of normal sounds can occur
- bowel sounds are high pitched, gurgling, cascading sounds, occurring irregularly anywhere from 5 to 30 times per minute
- do not bother to count them. Judge if they are normal, hypoactive or hyperactive
Auscultation bowel sounds
what is hyperactive sounds?
- loud, high-pitched, rushing, tinkling sounds signal increased motility
- one type is fairly common; the hyperperistalsis (increased motility) when you feel your “stomach growling,” termed borborygmus (BOR-boh-RIG-mus); loud, easily audible.
Auscultation bowel sounds
what is hypoactive or absent sounds?
- decreased motility associated with abdominal surgery, ileus, or with inflammation of the peritoneum
- a “silent” abdomen is uncommon; you must listen for 5 minutes before deciding bowl sounds are completely absent.
Auscultation bowel sounds
What are mixed abdominal sounds?
-varied sounds based on quadrant and what is happening. can by hyperactive ABOVE a mass/impaction and be absent below the blockage/stoppage.
Auscultation: Vascular sounds
Abnormal findings.
- listen with the bell
- note presence of vascular sounds or bruits w/ stenosis or occlusion of arteries
- use firm pressure, check over; aorta, renal arteries, iliac and femoral arteries, especially in people with HTN.
- usually, no such sounds is present
- note location, pitch, timing of a vascular sounds.
description and causes of borborygmi?
-hyperactive bowel sounds; loud and prolonged
causes; hunger
description and causes of abominal sounds
bowel sounds?
- high pitched, tinkling sounds
- intestinal air/ fluid under pressure; characteristic of early intestinal obstruction
description and causes of abominal sounds
bowel sounds?
- high pitched, tinkling sounds
- intestinal air/ fluid under pressure; characteristic of early intestinal obstruction
description and causes of abdominal sounds
decreased bowel sounds ?
- hypoactive bowl sounds; infrequent, abnormally faint
- possible peritonitis or ileus
description and causes of abominal sounds ?
friction rubs
- high pitched sounds over liver/ spleen (RUQ/LUQ), synchronous with respiration
- pathologic conditions (e.g tumors, infection) that cause inflammation of organs peritoneal covering
description and causes of abominal sounds
Bruits ?
- audible swishing sounds over aorta, iliac, renal and femoral arteries
- abnormality of blood flow (requires additional evaluation to determine specific disorder)
description and causes of abominal sounds
Venous hum?
- low-pitched, continuous sound
- increased collateral circulation between portal and systemic venous systems.
Palpation
- identifies areas of tenderness, distension and masses
- empty bladder
- light palpation gives a generalized idea before going deeper
- only proceed deeper when warranted and never do deep/firm palpation on a mass
- use a systemactic approach for each quadrant
- observe for guarding, grimacing, or other signs of discomfort.
- rebound tenderness, press onto the involved area and let go. Pain upon rebound indicates peritoneal tenderness common with appendicitis or peritoneal injury.
- do not palpate a pulsating abdominal mass. This might indicate an abdominal aortic aneurysm. this is why we observe/inspect FIRST
abdominal pain: broad categories.
- imflammatory (e.g appendicitis)
- mechanical (e.g bowel obstruction)
- neoplastic (e.g tumor pressing on a nerve)
- vascular (e.g clot, aneurysm)
- congenital (e.g hernia)
- traumatic (e.g blunt trauma)
Abdominal pain can refer to unusual places
-Location of the pain may not be directly over or even near the sire of the organ.
referred pain
- referred pain happens when nerve fibers from regions of high sensory input (such as the skin) and nerve fibers from regions of normally low sensory input (such has the internal organs) happen to converge on the same levels of the spinal cord.
- the best known ex. is pain experienced during a heart attack. Nerves from damaged heart tissue convery pain signals to signals to spinal cord levels T1-T4 on the left side, which happen to be the same levels that receive sensation from the left side of the chest and part of the left arm.