SYMPTOMS OF THE GASTROINTESTINAL SYSTEM Flashcards
COMMON SYMPTOMS of the GASTROINTESTINAL SYSTEM
GENERAL
SYMPTOM DEFINITION
- ANOREXIA Loss or lack of APETITE
- WEIGTH LOSS
- ABDOMINAL PAIN
- ABDOMINAL DISTENSION
UPPER GASTROINTESTINAL
SYMPTOM DEFINITION
- XEROSTOMIA = Dry mouth
- WATER BRUSH = Sudden appearance of excessive saliva in the mouth
- DYSGEUSIA = Altered taste sensation
- DYSPHAGIA = Difficulty swallowing
- GLOBUS = Sensation of a lump in the throat
- ODYNOPHAGIA = Pain on swallowing
- HEARTBURN = Burning retrosternal discomfort radiating upward
- FLATULENCE = Belching
- DYSPEPSIA = Indigestion
- EARLY SATIETY= Premature fullness on eating
- NAUSEA = Feeling sick
- HAEMATEMESIS = Vomiting fresh or altered blood
- HICCUPS
UPPER GASTROINTESTINAL
ALTERED BOWEL HABIT
- DIARRHOEA = Abnormally soft stools and/or frequent defecation
- CONSTIPATION= Abnormally firm stools and/or infrequent defecation
- STEATORRHEA = Fatty stools, pale, greasy difficult to flush away
- HAEMATOCHEZIA = Rectal bleeding
- MELAENA = Black tarry stools
HEPATOBILLIARY
JAUNDICE (ICTERUS)- sign
Yellow discoloration of skin and mucosae
ITCH (PRURITUS) = Generalized itchiness
ABDOMINAL PAIN
THE SEVEN ATTRIBUTES OF A SYMPTOM
- Location.
- Radiation (Referral of pain)
- Quality
- Severity
- Timing and Setting in which it occurs.
- Remitting or exacerbating factors.
- Associated manifestations.
ABDOMINAL PAIN – location
EPIGASTRIC pain
SLIDE 7-12
SOS!
ABDOMINAL PAIN- radiation
SECONDARY SITE
+ SLIDE 14,15,16
= RADIATION
= REFERRAL
= PROJECTION of pain
due to
shared sensory innervation of various parts of the body
the nature/location/evolution of the organ/process itself
ABDOMINAL PAIN - quality
I.BRIGHT pain
II.DULL pain
III.UNDIFFERENTIATED pain
ABDOMINAL PAIN - quality
BRIGHT pain
“hot“, “burning“, “sharp“, “knifelike“, “stabbing“, “sour“, “sore“
Usually in the upper abdomen of mucosal in origin
signs of inflammatory disease
ABDOMINAL PAIN - quality
DULL pain
“dull” “squeezing” “cramping” “colicky” “like something too big“
or “like something moving around.”
origin in muscular walls of the gut, in solid masses
Obstructive diseases, intestinal ischemia or enlarged organs
UNDIFFERENTIATED pain = “ACHING” pains
Originating from Solid organs
Pain referred to the abdomen from the chest
Pain of abdominal wall origin
ABDOMINAL PAIN - SEVERITY
- Highly subjective
- Assess the impact on the patient life
- Underestimated in specific circumstances (elders, diabetes)
- Not useful in appreciating the correct magnitude of the causative lesion
The CRONOLOGY of the ABDOMINAL PAIN
Onset of the Pain:
- date and circumstances can suggest the cause
- character and location at the onset can differ from the present ones and may
reflect the evolution and possible complications of the causative process
- rapid onset of the abdominal pain:
perforation of a hollow viscus, a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm
mesenteric infarction, torsion of an organ - slower onset and progression (hours or days): inflammatory disorders
The CRONOLOGY of the ABDOMINAL PAIN
The Progress of Abdominal Pain
not often truly constant but characterized by exacerbations and remissions
commonest constant abdominal pain:
pancreatic carcinoma,
chest–originating pain,
dissecting aortic aneurism
- “colicky” pain: origin from hollow structures – bowel, uterus biliary and renal colic (hours not minutes in duration)
- particular patterns of progression suggestive of a specific cause:
“silent interval”: perforation of un ulcer
appendicitis: changes in character and location of pain
small bowel obstruction: changing from colic to persistent pain
ABDOMINAL PAIN – aggravating/relieving factors
- eating and drinking,
- taking of specific foods and beverages,
- certain medicines,
- defecation,
- body position,
- physical activity and emotional stress
