Auscultation of the abdomen involves using a stethoscope to listen to and generally assess bowel sounds and bruits (i.e., murmurs). Let’s review how to auscultate the abdomen during an abdominal exam, with a focus on how to listen for bowel sounds and bruits. When performing auscultation of the abdomen, use the diaphragm of your stethoscope. Warm up the diaphragm of your stethoscope by placing it in your hands; this makes it more comfortable when laid on the patient’s skin. Listen for bowel sounds in the abdomen to the right of the umbilicus where the midportion of the small bowel is located. Then, proceed to listen to all four quadrants. Normally, bowel sounds consist of low-pitched gurgling sounds that occur every five to ten seconds with peristalsis (i.e., bowel movement). An absence of bowel sounds for greater than two minutes may indicate that there is no peristalsis—which implies an ileus. Very high-pitched bowel sounds can be associated with mechanical obstruction, such as a small bowel obstruction. Small obstructions increase the volume and frequency of bowel sounds. Auscultation for bruits is an important part of the abdominal exam. A bruit is an abnormal swishing or blowing sound from blood flowing through a narrowed or partially occluded artery. It can be thought of as a vascular murmur. During an abdominal exam, you should attempt to auscultate a bruit over five structures:
To auscultate the aorta, place the stethoscope between the xiphoid (epigastrium) and the umbilicus about two-thirds of the way down. Place the stethoscope about 3 cm superior and lateral to the umbilicus on both the left and right sides for the bilateral renal arteries. On some people, this can be approximated by drawing an imaginary line down from the point just proximal to the midclavicular line. To auscultate the bilateral iliac arteries, place the stethoscope about 3 cm inferior and lateral to the umbilicus on the left and right sides. For the hepatic artery, place the stethoscope along the right subcostal margin laterally at approximately the midclavicular line. When auscultating the splenic artery, place the stethoscope along the left subcostal margin, approximately 2 cm inferior and lateral (moving posteriorly) to the midclavicular line. This accounts for the posterior location of the spleen. That’s it for now. If you want to improve your understanding of key concepts in medicine, and improve your clinical skills, make sure to register for a free trial account, which will give you access to free videos and downloads. We’ll help you make the right decisions for yourself and your patients.
Chapter 5 – Gastrointestinal System Auscultation of the abdomen as it relates to the GI system is performed to assess for intestinal function, specifically bowel sounds. Bowel sounds are produced by the movement of fluid, gas, and contents through the intestines. As a nurse, auscultating for bowel sounds with the stethoscope’s diaphragm is a common part of health assessment. The diaphragm is best for detecting high-pitched sounds such as bowel sounds. Bowel sounds are sometimes loud enough to hear without a stethoscope. Auscultation of the abdomen follows inspection, so the abdomen is already exposed. When conducting auscultation, begin in the right lower quadrant and progress clockwise to the right upper quadrant, left upper quadrant, and the left lower quadrant. Figure 5.4 presents the pattern of auscultation. Always begin in the right lower quadrant because this is the location of the ileocecal valve, which is a muscular sphincter that allows contents to move from the ileum of the small intestine to the cecum of the large intestine. Figure 5.4: Pattern of auscultation. Photo by Laura Tancredi from Pexels (image was cropped and illustrated upon for the purposes of this chapter) Assess the presence, frequency, and quality of bowel sounds.
Auscultating the abdomen for bowel sounds involves the following steps (see Video 5.2): 1. Cleanse the stethoscope. 2. With a complete seal and light touch, place the diaphragm of the stethoscope on the abdomen in the right lower quadrant and listen. Next, lift the diaphragm and place it in the next quadrant. 3. Identify the presence and location of bowel sounds.
4. Identify the approximate frequency of bowel sounds. You do not need to count them. 5. Identify the quality of bowel sounds. 6. Note the findings.
Video 5.2: Auscultating the abdomen
Any abnormal bowel sounds should be investigated. They should not be evaluated in isolation: an abnormal sound should always be considered in the context of other symptoms such as abdominal distention, flatus, pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and constipation. If a client has absent bowel sounds, consider whether this could be associated with , a complete bowel obstruction, or a perforation of the small or large intestine. All of these issues require urgent intervention and are often associated with pain, abdominal distention, nausea, and vomiting. If you suspect one of these conditions, monitor the client closely while conducting a primary survey and complete set of vital signs. Ask a colleague to notify the physician/nurse practitioner. Normal bowel sounds are usually the same throughout all four quadrants, but abnormal bowel sounds can vary from quadrant to quadrant. For example, hyperactive bowel sounds can be present prior to the location of a partial bowel obstruction, and hypoactive or absent after the location of a partial bowel obstruction. Trends in bowel sound are important to consider; for example, a sudden shift from hyperactive to absent may indicate a crisis situation such as a bowel perforation. Activity: Check Your Understandingrefers to inflammation of the peritoneal cavity that can be caused by a variety of conditions. |