Abdominal Conditions And Management

Question 1

What are the risk factors associated with cancer development?

Answer 1

High fat and high salt diets, smoking, heavy alcohol use and having a sedentary lifestyle.

Question 2

What are the main causes of abdominal conditions?

Answer 2

Cancer, inflammation, infection and hypovolaemia

Question 3

What does metastasise mean?

Answer 3

Spread of cancer to various sites, crossing abdominal boundaries.

Question 4

What can chronic inflammatory disease be presented as?

Answer 4

Pain, haemorrhage, obstruction, inflammation and infection.

Question 5

What causes hypovolaemia?

Answer 5

Trauma, erosion of the protective mucosal layers - can be slow or quick

Question 6

What is hypovolaemia?

Answer 6

Condition that occurs when the body loses fluid such as blood or water. Low circulating blood volume

Question 7

What should we be looking for with hypovolaemia

Answer 7

Signs of shock

Question 8

Why does infection happen ?

Answer 8

Happens when pathogens invade the body

Question 9

What are symptoms of infection?

Answer 9

Stomach ache, vomiting, diarrhoea.

Question 10

With infection how can the patient present?

Answer 10

Fever, weakness and chills at an attempt to slow organism reproduction . White blood cells are directed to the infection site to kill it.

Question 11

What is a GI bleed a symptom of?

Answer 11

Another disease in process.

Question 12

What do you need to determine with a GI bleed?

Answer 12

The difference between an upper and lower bleed. This can be done by the characteristics of presenting vomiting and stools. Melena genuinely takes 14 hours to develop and produces bright red blood in stool which means lower gi bleed.

Question 13

What needs to happen with patients with a recent GI bleed (48 hours)?

Answer 13

Be seen at hospital.

Question 14

What is pancreatitis

Answer 14

Where there is redness and swelling of the pancreas. This happens when the digestive juices and enzymes attack the pancreas.

Question 15

What are risk factors associated with pancreatitis?

Answer 15

Excessive alcohol use, gallstone disease

Question 16

What are the signs and symptoms of pancreatitis

Answer 16

Epigastric or umbilical pain (bellybutton pain), radiation of pain to the back, raised bm, hypotension or shock, tachycardia, abdominal distension

Question 17

What is management of pancreatitis?

Answer 17

Pain management and transport.

Question 18

What is appendicitis?

Answer 18

Blocked due to faecal matter, building bacteria resulting in inflammation.

Question 19

What are the signs and symptoms of appendicitis?

Answer 19

Epigastric or umbilical pain, fever, anorexia, nausea and vomiting. A shift of pain from epigastric to right lower quadrant is common.

Question 20

What is the management of appendicitis?

Answer 20

Assessment and identification, pain management, consider antiemetics (drugs affective against nausea and vomiting.

Question 21

What organs are included in an upper GI bleed?

Answer 21

Stomach, oesophagus and duodenum.

Question 22

What are the causes for upper GI bleeds?

Answer 22

Peptic ulcers (sore on the lining of the stomach, small intestine or oesophagus), oesophagus varices (dilated sub mucosal distal oesophageal veins connecting the portal and systematic circulations), oesphagitis (inflammation), tumour, Mallory (Weiss tears, tear of the lower tissue of the oesophagus).

Question 23

What is a GI bleed?

Answer 23

Bleedi f I

Bleeding, sign of a disorder in the digestive tract.

Question 24

What history may a pt with an upper gi bleed have?

Answer 24

History of using aspirin or NSAIDS.

Question 25

What organs are involved in the lower GI bleeds?

Answer 25

Small intestine, colon, rectum and anus.

Question 26

What are the common causes of a lower gi bleed?

Answer 26

Diverticular disease (conditions affecting the large intestine), haemorrhoids (swollen veins in the anus or lower rectum), tumour.

Question 27

What are the signs and symptoms of an upper gi bleed?

Answer 27

Vomit with blood, melena (dark black, tarry faeces), haematemesis (vomiting of blood),

Question 28

What is the management of an GI bleed?

Answer 28

Pain management if appropriate, fluids (if Bp is below 90 and there are signs of impaired major organ perfusion, 250 ml to maximum 2 litres), transport with pre alert if needed, O2 saturation >94%.

Question 29

What are the signs and symptoms of a lower GI bleed?

Answer 29

Gross bleeding, Haematochezia (passage of fresh blood or in stools).

Question 30

What is an acute obstruction?

Answer 30

Bowel obstruction - intestinal contents are not progressed through the bowel in the normal way by peristalsis. Small bowel is usually a result of adhesions (band of scar tissue joining two body surfaces that aren’t normally connected. Large bowel is a result of a tumour.

Question 31

What is a mechanical obstruction?

Answer 31

Rise in intraluminal pressure resulting in mucosal injury, inflammation and bacterial overgrowth. The proximal bowel then distends with gas, fluid and electrolytes (hypersécrétion and reduced bowel absorption) . Can lead to death of the bowel.

Question 32

What are the signs and symptoms of an acute obstruction

Answer 32

Early - pain poorly localised, abdominal distension, absent and reduced bowel sounds, dehydration, vomiting, increased temp and heart rate.

Question 33

What can lead to reshaping of the artery walls?

Answer 33

Atherosclerosis, Hypertension, Trauma

Question 34

What are the signs and symptoms of an abdominal aortic aneurysm?

Answer 34

Thorcaic - may have dysphagia and dyspnoea due to pressure on surrounding organs, back pain, tearing pain, hypovolaemic shock.

Question 35

What is the management of an AAA?

Answer 35

Do not change the position that they are in, trasnport to ED, pain meds?

Question 36

What is acute cholecystisis

Answer 36

Inflammation of the gall bladder, normally happens when gallstones block the cystic duct.

Question 37

What are the symptoms of cholecystisis?

Answer 37

The main symptom is sudden, sharp pain in the upper right hand side of the abdomen. This pain can spread to the right shoulder. Affected part is very tendor, persistent. High temp, feeling sick, being sick, sweating, loss of appetite, Jaundice, bulge in the tummy.

Question 38

What is the management of cholecystisis?

Answer 38

Pain management, transfer to ed or referral.