Abdominal Exam Flashcards
What are the two places the lymphatic system dumps lymph into?
Right subclavian vein
Thoracic duct
Right side of face, right shoulder, right chest and right arm all drain into?
Right sublcavian vein
What is the alimentary tract?
Runs from your mouth to your anus. Pretty much the whole GI tract.
What does the liver do, what quadrant is it in?
RUQ, metabolizes, detoxifies, produces antibodies and clotting factors.
Gallbladder: where and what does it do?
RUQ, inferior to liver, produces and stores bile, emulsifies fats in the intestines and controls pH there too.
Spleen: where and what does it do?
LUQ, filters blood, manufactures some leukocytes
Pancreas: where and what does it do?
LUQ, produces digestive juices, secretes them into duodenum
Stomach: where and what does it do?
LUQ, digests food
Small intestine: where and what it do?
Duodenum, jejunum, ileum, involved in digestion
Large intestine… where and what it do?
reabsorbs…. located all over the place
Kidney: where and what it do?
RUQ and LUQ. Filters blood, creates urine.
Appendix: where located?
RLQ
When examining the abdomen, what is the order of examinations?
Inspection, auscultation, percussion/palpation
Where should tympany be felt in the abdomen?
Everywhere until you hit muscle on flanks. Or over poop. or over the liver.
What is the normal liver size?
6-12 cm
If you percuss over the spleen and hear dullness, what could it mean?
Splenomegaly
When percussing the kidneys, should you use light or blunt percussion?
Blunt
What are borborygmi, and what is a “normal” amount?
stomach sounds, clicks and gurgles, 5-35 per minute
Why should you do a rectal, pelvic, and/or a GU exam as a part of the abdominal exam?
Because any pain felt in the abdominal region cannot really be ruled as GI pain without first examining these other areas and ruling them out.
Ballotement
technique to estimate the size of an organ not near the surface when there is ascites - kind of like dribbling a basketball with one finger, except over the organ in question
Grey turner sign
Purple bruised areas on the flanks, sign of retroperitoneal hemorrhage, goes along with cullen sign sometimes
Shifting dullness
Test used for ascites involving percussing the abdomen on the pt while supine and on side… Gravity makes the ascites move locations.
Murphy sign
Test for inflamed gallbladder - pt inhales while you palpate deep, they will stop inhaling if there is pain
Fluid wave
test for ascites - pt puts hand on midline of abdomen, then you tap one side of the abdomen while feeling for a fluid wave on the other side.
