Vomitting Flashcards
What is the medical term for vomitting?
emesis
What is vomiting?
the forceful expulsion of gastric contents through the mouth associated with the contraction of the muscles of the abdominal and chest wall.
What controls the act of vomiting?
the vomiting and chemoreceptor trigger centres in the brain
What are some symptoms associated with vomiting?
- nausea
- dry retching
- haematemesis
What is nausea?
the unpleasant feeling of needing to vomit. It often accompanies vomiting but may occur separately from it as well
What is dry retching?
Dry retching it the term used when muscular contractions occur without expulsion of gastric contents
What is haematemesis?
When a person is vomiting blood.
What is regurgitation?
the passive flow of oesophageal contents into the mouth without nausea and the muscular activity associated with vomiting
What is a typical associated condition with regurgitation?
- gastro-eosophageal reflux disease
What are some common causes of vomiting?
- gastroenteritis
- pregnancy
- medications (especially chemotherapy)
- acute myocardial
- and many more…
What are some important questions to ask about vomiting?
- What is the relationship between eating and vomiting?
- What does the patient think is causing the vomiting?
What are some cardinal features that are important for vomiting?
- Quality (blood, bile stained)
- Severity (how often? how much?)
- Time course (onset; duration; patterns?; relationship with meals?; first thing in the morning?)
- Context (medication, pregnancy; contact with others who have been vomiting/diarrhoea)
- R/A Factors
- Associated Features (abdo pain; diarrhoea; headache; fever; vertigo; dehydration; weight loss)
What is clinical reasoning?
the formulation of a diagnosis based on the features of the presenting problem (pattern recognition) and by gathering information about the patient in order to generate a list of diagnostic hypothesis to be tested.
