What is an appropriate assessment of the abdomen?
Assessing your patient’s abdomen can provide critical information about his internal organs. Always follow this sequence: inspection, auscultation, percussion, and palpation. Changing the order of these assessment techniques could alter the frequency of bowel sounds and make your findings less accurate.
What do tinkling bowel sounds mean?
When the bowel is obstructed they become high pitched or tinkling as fluid drips from one distended and tympanic loop of bowel into another. In the presence of peritonitis, classically in association with a perforation, the abdomen becomes silent reflecting an absence of peristaltic activity, so called paralytic ileus.
How do you perform an abdominal assessment?
Deep palpation of the abdomen is performed by placing the flat of the hand on the abdominal wall and applying firm, steady pressure. It may be helpful to use two-handed palpation (Figure 93.2), particularly in evaluating a mass. Here the upper hand is used to exert pressure, while the lower hand is used to feel.
What will the nurse assess during inspection of the abdomen?
The inspection of the abdomen includes looking for scars, striae, venous pattern, rashes, contour, symmetry, masses, peristalsis, and pulsations. Inspection is optimum with the patient lying flat on the examination table, breathing normally. As this is being done, note the comfort level of the patient.
What does positive bowel sound mean?
Increased (hyperactive) bowel sounds can sometimes be heard even without a stethoscope. Hyperactive bowel sounds mean there is an increase in intestinal activity. This may happen with diarrhea or after eating.
What is peristaltic movement in stomach?
Peristalsis is a series of wave-like muscle contractions that move food through the digestive tract. It starts in the esophagus where strong wave-like motions of the smooth muscle move balls of swallowed food to the stomach.
What does peristalsis look like?
What does peristalsis look like? The muscle movements of peristalsis are often described as wave-like because they contract and relax in a continuous pattern to move food forward.
What questions do you ask in an abdominal assessment?
Abdominal pain
- Does the patient use a single finger or spread the fingers and move the palm over much of the abdomen?
- What is the nature of the pain? Note body language.
- Are there any aggravating or relieving factors?
- How often is the pain felt and how long does it last?
- Is there radiation elsewhere?
What are the steps in abdominal assessment?
Examine the contour of the abdominal wall. During your abdominal inspection,look at the general contour of the abdominal wall from the central aspect (xiphoid,umbilicus,and suprapubic
How do you perform abdominal Assesment?
Percussion of the abdomen can be very useful. It is really to allow you to determine if abdominal distension is because of solid or cystic tumours,ascites or gas.
What is the correct order for abdominal assessment?
Wash hands thoroughly with soap and water.
How to do an abdominal assessment?
Pain in all quadrants with associated vomiting and diarrhea may indicate gastroenteritis