Gastrointestinal Assessment

What is a Gastrointestinal Assessment?

A is a test practitioners conduct to assess the patient’s abdomen and contents.

Like other clinical examinations, the healthcare professional must do the following to ensure that they’ve thoroughly examined the gastrointestinal system:

• Inspection
• Palpation
• Percussion
• Auscultation

During this examination, the physician-in-charge must know how to divide the abdomen. Knowing these regions will be helpful when looking for symptoms and writing down results.

The first way to divide the abdomen is into four quadrants. Namely the left upper quadrant, right upper quadrant, lower left quadrant, and right lower quadrant. This method is used to check bowel sounds from the patient’s abdomen.

The second way is to divide it into nine regions. From upper to lower, left to right, the naming is as follows:

• Left Hypochondriac
• Epigastric
• Right Hypochondriac
• Left Lumbar
• Umbilical
• Right Lumbar
• Left Inguinal
• Suprapubic
• Right Inguinal

As for the flow and content of the gastrointestinal, it will depend on the patient’s age and prior diagnoses, if any. However, generally, the practitioner does the following:

• Ask the patient the reason for their visit
• Gather the patient’s gastrointestinal medical history
• Inspect, Auscultate, Palpate, and Percuss the abdomen - not necessarily in that order

Once finished, the practitioner formulates and clinical impression and proceeds to refer the patient to a specialist or have them undergo further testing.

How does it work?

Step One. Download the Template

Access and download a copy of our printable gastrointestinal assessment template by:

• Clicking the “Use this Template” or “Download this Template” button above.
• Searching for “Gastrointestinal Assessment” in Carepatron’s template library on our website or app.

Step Two. Pre-Test Preparations

Before conducting the test, it’s essential to do the following pre-test preparations:

• Wash your hands and introduce yourself to the patient
• Confirm the patient details by asking them to fill out the necessary basic information on the template
• Explain how the test will be conducted
• Ask for the patient’s consent
• Ensure the patient’s privacy

Step Three. Conduct the Test

After finishing the pre-test preparations, you may conduct the test by asking the questions on the template and doing the inspection, auscultation, palpation, and percussion. Remember to listen attentively to the patient’s answer, be observant of the patient’s reactions, and not rush the test unless necessary.

Step Four. Recond the Results

After every step or observation, it’s highly recommended that you write down the results so that the document will be as helpful to yourself and fellow practitioners as possible.

When would you use this Template?

Medical health practitioners can use our downloadable gastrointestinal assessment template while checking the patient’s gastrointestinal system during their routine head-to-toe assessment. However, if a patient is not due for a full-body assessment, it can also depend on their condition. To help you out, here are symptoms when it’s most likely that you must check your patient’s gastrointestinal tract:

• Weight gain or loss
• Swallowing problems
• Belly Pain
• Nausea and vomiting
• Constipation or diarrhea
• Bleeding
• Bloating
• Heartburn

Whether it’s an out-patient or in-patient, if they’re exhibiting these symptoms, it’s encouraged that you have them tested and utilize our template in case you need a guide, reference, or document to record your observations. You are also free to use this template to check if the cause of pain is a gastrointestinal disorder or something else while making a differential diagnosis.

Benefits

Streamline the Process

You're streamlining the process by having a ready-made template with questions to ask and the four significant steps you have to take. It’s because you’re removing the time and effort it takes to look from creating a document to writing results.

Early Recognition

Since the test has most, if not all, bases that need to be covered, you can find the source or cause of the patient’s exhibited symptoms.

Written Copies of Results

A template can also function as a document where you can write results. By utilizing it, you’re effectively reducing the risk of forgetting your findings and can easily refer to your written observations in case fellow practitioners have any questions.

Digitally Accessible

Our template is entirely digital, so you can access and fill it out on any gadget you have. You can use your local PDF editor, or for your ease of editing, filling it out, and storing, do it right on Carepatron’s software.

Research & Evidence

Similar to other clinical examinations, studies that prove the usefulness of a gastrointestinal template are few and far between, if any. However, as seen in the sections above, there are several benefits to using a template that functions as a guide, reference, and document holding all of the results. Even better, our template is customizable enough to allow you to design it to suit your needs and flexible enough for you to use it in various situations.