Exam 3 Flashcards
GI, GU (108 cards)
Gastric ulcer s/s
Weight loss, not as painful as duodenal ulcer, pain not relieved by food or antacids, n/v, belching, bloating, common in people over age 50.
Duodenal ulcer s/s
Pain that wakes up at night, occurs intermittently over few weeks than disappears for months, then recurs, n/v, belching, bloating, heartburn, more common age 30-60 years
Pancreatic ca s/s
Painless jaundice, anorexia, weight loss, glucose intolerance, depression
Appendicitis s/s, positive sign names
- Visceral periumbilical pain due to distention of inflamed appendix which gradually changes to parietal pain the RLQ due to inflammation of adjacent parietal peritoneum.
- Rovsing sign, + Psoas sign, + Obturator sign, and/or tenderness at McBurney point
- [Note: visceral pain is gnawing, burning, cramping or aching. When severe it causes sweating, pallor, n/v, restlessness]
**Parietal pain
Steady, aching, more severe than visceral pain, usually aggravated by movement or coughing, patients prefer to lie still ex: peritonitis s/s pain with absent bowel sounds, rigidity, percussion tenderness and guarding
Referred pain
Pain felt distant to origin due to related innervation
Ex: duodenal or pancreatic origin pain referred to back. Pain from biliary tree referred to right scapular region or right posterior thorax
Pain from pleurisy or inferior wall myocardial infarction referred to epigastric region
Renal stone s/s
Colicky pain causing doubling over, frequent movement to find comfortable position, cramping pain radiating to the right or LLQ or groin
Pancreatitis s/s
Sudden knife-like epigastric pain often radiating to the back, acute onset, persistent pain which may be aggravated by lying supine, n/v, abdominal distention, fever, recurrent with alcohol abuse or gallstones, some relief with leaning forward with trunk flexed
GERD s/s
Heartburn and regurgitation more than once per week makes accuracy of diagnosis over 90% atypical symptoms:
- chest pain, cough, wheezing and aspiration PNA, hoarseness, chronic sore throat and laryngitis
- risk factors: reduced salivary flow, obesity, delayed gastric emptying; selected medications and hiatal hernia*
Alarm GI symptoms
Dysphagia, odynophagia, recurrent vomiting, evidence of GI bleeding, early satiety, weight loss, anemia, risk factors for gastric CA, palpable mass, painless jaundice warrant endoscopy to evaluate for esophagitis, peptic strictures, Barrett esophagus or esophageal CA
**Small or large bowel obstruction s/s
Diffuse abdominal pain, abdominal distention, hyperactive high-pitched bowel sounds, tenderness on palpation
Colon CA s/s
Change in bowel habits with mass lesion
Mesenteric ischemia s/s
Food fear, vomiting, bloody stool, signs of shock, abdominal pain, slightly distended/ soft/nontender abdomen, pain disproportionate to physical findings may have underlying cardiac disease, age > 50
**Ulcerative colitis What and s/s
Mucosal inflammation typically extending proximally from rectum to varying lengths of colon s/s: frequent watery stools, often containing blood, abrupt onset, night awakening, cramping pain, fever, fatigue, weakness, linked to Ashkenazi Jewish descendants and to altered CD4 T-cell Th2 response, increased risk of colon CA
**Crohn disease of small bowel What and s/s
Chronic transmural inflammation of bowel wall with skip pattern involving the terminal ileum and proximal wall, may cause strictures
s/s: pain happens insidiously, chronic and recurrent, crampy periumblical, RLQ or diffuse pain with anorexia, fever, and/or weight loss, perianal or perirectal abscesses and fistulas, may cause small or large bowel obstruction.
Often in teens or young adults, more common in Ashkenazi Jewish descendants, linked to altered CD4+ T-cell helper Th1 and 17 response
Acute vs. chronic diarrhea
Painless loose or watery stools during >=75% of defecations in prior 3 months, with symptom onset at least 6 months prior to diagnosis. acute: less than 2 weeks chronic: more than 4 weeks, usually due to Crohn’s or UC
Constipation criteria and s/s
Present in past 3 months with symptom onset at least 6 months prior to diagnosis and meet at least 2 of the following:
- fewer than 3 bms/week
- 25% or more defecations with either straining or sensation of incomplete evacuation;
- lumpy or hard stools;
- or manual facilitation.
Mechanisms of jaundice
- Increased production of bilirubin
- Decreased uptake of bilirubin by hepatocytes
- Decreased ability of liver to conjugate bilirubin
- Decreased excretion of bilirubin into bile, resulting in absorption of conjugated bilirubin back into the blood
Painless vs. painful jaundice
Painless: malignant obstruction of the bile ducts seen in duodenal or pancreatic carcinoma
Painful: infectious in origin, e.g. hepatitis A and cholangitis. Itching occurs in cholestatic or obstructive jaundice
Risk factors for liver disease
Travel, exchange of bodily fluids through sexual contact or use of shared needles, alcohol use, use of toxic agents, gallbladder disease or surgery, hereditary disorders
Classic findings of alcohol abuse
Hepatosplenomegaly, ascites, caput medusae (dilated abdominal veins), jaundice, spider angiomas, palmar erythema, Dupuytren contractures (finger muscle contractures), asterixis (flappy hand tremor) and gynecomastia
Screening for ETOH abuse
CAGE, Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) or the shorter AUDIT-C questionnaire
Moderate drinking
- Women <=1 drink/d
- Men <=2 drinks/d
Unsafe drinking
- Women > 3 drinks/d and > 7 drinks/wk
- Men > 4 drinks/d and > 14 drinks/wk
Binge drinking
- Women >=4 drinks on one occasion
- Men >=5 drinks on one occasion
1 drink = 12 oz of beer or wine cooler, 8 oz malt liquor, 5 oz wine, 1.5 oz 80-proof spirits
Hepatitis B vaccine prioritized for the following groups
- Sexual contacts
- People with percutaneous or mucosal exposure to blood
- Travelers to endemic areas
- People with chronic liver disease and HIV
- All adults in high risk settings, i.e. STD clinics, HIV test and tx programs, drug rehab programs, correctional facilities, hemodialysis facilities, facilities for people with developmental disabilities
High risk groups prioritized for Hepatitis A vaccine
- all children at age 1 year
- Individuals with chronic liver disease
- High risk groups: travelers to areas with high endemic rates, MSM, injection and illicit drug users, people who work with nonhuman primates and persons with clotting factor disorders


