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abdominal examination |
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abdominal examination, the physical assessment of a patient's abdomen by visual inspection, auscultation, percussion, and palpation. Visual inspection of the normally oval shape of the abdominal surface while the patient is supine may reveal abnormal surface features indicating the effects of disease, surgery, or injury. Subsurface tumors, fluid accumulation, or hypertrophy of the liver or spleen may be observed as an abnormal surface feature. Auscultation may reveal vascular sounds that provide information about arterial disorders such as aortic aneurysms and bowel sounds that indicate intestinal function. In the pregnant patient, auscultation can detect fetal heartbeat and blood circulation in the placenta. Percussion helps detect the condition of internal organs. Palpation is used to detect areas of tenderness or rigidity, muscle tone and skin condition, and shapes and sizes of subsurface organs or masses. abdominal examination Clinical medicine A hands-on evaluation of the abdominal cavity to identify abnormalities, if any, based on any change in size, shape, consistency, or sound on percussion of the organs found therein. See Abdomen. How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content. |
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| ? Mentioned in | ? References in periodicals archive | |
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"No physician can do an adequate lung or abdominal exam on a
screaming child," said Bernard Dannenberg, MD, Packard
Children's Hospital's first Davies Family Endowed Director of
Pediatric Emergency Medicine, who emphasized that children are much more
likely than adults to be bewildered, anxious and stressed when brought
to the emergency department. |
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