Health Assessment Flashcards
Assessing Mouth, Throat, Nose, and Sinuses which nursing skills will you use primarily?
Inspection & Palpate
The throat is also known as what?
pharynx
How many pairs of the paranasal sinuses are there?
Four pairs
Name the paranasal sinuses
Frontal, maxillary, ethmoidal, and sphenoidal
What are the risk Factors for Cancer of the Oral Cavity
Using tobacco products
Heavy alcohol use
Drinking alcohol and smoking together
Being infected with a certain types of HPV
Being exposed to sunlight (lip cancer only)
Male gender
Age over 55
Fair skin
Poor oral hygiene
Poor diet/nutrition
Weakened immune system
Graft-versus-host disease
Genetic syndromes such as Fanconi anemia, dyskeratosis congenita
Lichen planus
Use of mouthwash with high alcohol content
Irritation from dentures
What equipment do you need to perform an assessment for the mouth, nose, throat & sinuses?
Gloves
Cotton gauze pads
Penlight
Nasal speculum attached to otoscope
Tongue blade
What two physical techniques will you use for this type of assessment?
Inspection & Palpatation
Describe what you are looking for when assessing the mouth?
Distinctive odors
Inspect and palpate lips (CN VII), buccal mucosa, gums, and tongue (CN XII) for color variations or lesions, Stensen and Wharton ducts
Inspect gums for hyperplasia, blue-black line
Inspect teeth for number and shape, color, occlusion
Inspect and palpate tongue for color, texture and consistency, moisture, and size
Inspect uvula and palate rise (CN IX & X)
Upon inspection of the throat, how many grades can you assess the tonsils?
5
Name the grades form the tonsils
Grade 1, 2, 3, 4 & 4 +
Assessment of the nose-what are you inspecting and palpating?
Inspect and palpate the external nose for color, shape, consistency, tenderness, and patency of airflow.
Inspect the internal nasal mucosa for color, swelling, exudate, bleeding, ulcers, perforated septum, or polyps.
What tool do you need for inspecting the sinuses?
A light
What are you assessing the sinuses, what are you actually looking and assessing for?
Palpation for tenderness
Percussion and transillumination for air versus fluid or pus
When inspecting a tongue that is smooth, reddish, shiny tongue without papillae-what does this indicate, what condition?
Vitamin B12 deficiency
Describe leukoplakia ? And what is another name for this?
They are thickened white patches in the mouth, noncancerous, but some show early signs of cancer-also called smoker’s keratosis
What is Kaposi sarcoma lesions?
Think purple, red, or brown blotches can appear on the tongue, but they can also appear on the legs
Describe cheilosis of lips
Think C- an inflammation as evidenced by cracking, crusting and scaling at the corners of the mouth
Describe Leukoplakia
First, it is also called smoker’s keratosis- they are thick white patches inside the mouth - caused by tobacco products- noncancerous
Describe a black, hairy tongue-what is the cause?
It is literally a black-looking tongue- and it is caused by dead skin cells, it is usually caused from antibiotics or tobacco** also Pepto Bismol can cause this
What are the causes of receding gums?
Smoking & genetics & aggressive brushing
What is candidiasis?
Also called oral thrush, white lesions on the tongue & cheeks, it is common in babies, people with immune deficiency, and those who use steroid sprays for asthma.
What are two abnormal findings of the sinuses?
Nasal polyps & perforated septum
What are Talon Cusps? What cultural population
Talon cusps on incisors and circular cusps on molars in Asian, Pacific Islanders, and Native Americans
Also known as eagle’s talon, found in 1-6% of the population & on the maxillary central incisor
Torus palatinus in female Eskimos, Native Americans, and Asians
True or False
True
What is Torus palatinus? Where is it found?
It is a bony outgrowth in the mouth(roof of the mouth)
Bifid uvula is found in Native Americans and Pacific Islanders True or False?
False- Native Americans & Asians
What are examples of age-related changes in the oral cavity?
Gums recede, ischemic, and undergo fibrotic changes
Tooth surfaces worn down
Decreased ability to smell and taste
Oral mucosa drier and more fragile
Varicose veins in ventral surface of tongue
