Common Symptoms and Signs Of Gastrointestinal Disease
Gastrointestinal disease refers to disease including gastrointestinal tract such as oesophagus, stomach, large intestine, rectum and small intestine as well as it includes other digestive organs such as gallbladder, pancreas and liver. Gastrointestinal disorder affects the gastrointestinal tract from mouth ot anus. Causes of gastrointestinal disease are stress, not drinking sufficient water, inactive lifestyle and genetic factors. According to the information, some common signs and symptoms of gastrointestinal disorder include abdominal discomfort such as pain or cramps, unintentional weight loss, nausea and vomiting, acid reflux, constipation, diarrhea, fecal incontinence, fatugure, difficulty in swallowing and loss of appetite. Holtmann et al. (2017) suggested that symptoms of gastrointestinal disorders appear first and then mood disorders happen; however, in some cases reverse things can happen. Black et al. (2020) suggested that severe gastrointestinal disorder includes nausea, vomiting and constipation and these symptoms are common to a huge range of organic pathology such as inflammatory bowel disease, gstronintential cancer and peptic ulcer. The Common Gastrointestinal Digestive Problems & Symptoms are given in picture above.
Some common symptoms of gastritis or Gastrointestinal Disease:
- Abdominal pain (intermittent or constant burning, /gripping or gnawing pain)
- loss of appetite
- nausea and vomiting
- bloating, and belching and burping
Nursing assessment tool for Gastrointestinal Disease
Regarding the diagnosis of gastrointestinal disorders nurses first evaluate the medical history of patients so that it can guide the further medical assessment. After asking the patient some common question regarding their medical condition, nurses go for further assessment, where the first step is inspection, then auscultation, then percussion and palpation (Hoseinzadeh et al. 2018). Additionally, nurses measure their vital signs such as blood pressure and pulse rate with the help of a sphygmomanometer and pulse oximeter. Additionally, nurses measure patients' body temperature with help of thermometers as well as enquire about different associated symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, weight loss and changes in bowel habit. In inspection, nurses inspect patients' colour of skin and inspect the abdomen whether there are any surgical scars, pulsation or masses. Next in auscultation, check bowel sound and then nurses go to the next step and identify the pain.
Types of Interventions For Gastrointestinal Disease
Information has suggested that different types of disorders are associated with gastrointestinal illness such as Crohn's disease, peptic ulcers, Ulcerative Colitis, Acute Pancreatitis, Cholelithiasis, Cholecystitis, and Appendicitis. The first gastrointestinal illness is peptic ulcer and it is an infectious disease, and in case the stomach produces too many acids. Some interventions for this disease are triple therapy of Metronidazole, Amoxicillin and Clarithromycin, endoscopic therapy, antacids and proton pump inhibitors (Malik et al. 2018). Next, Crohn's disease is the idiopathic inflammatory bowel disease and it runs in families. Regarding the prevention of Crohn's disease Anticholinergics and Antidiarrhoeals can be used for reducing gastrointestinal motility and Iron tablets and Vitamin B12 can also be used as the supplement diet (Macaluso, 2019). Next, gastrointestinal disease is Acute Pancreatitis, this is an inflammatory condition caused due to damage of the biliary tract. The treatment of acute pancreatitis include analgesia regarding pain, aggressively treating hypovolaemia, correcting electrolyte imbalance, cardiac monitoring, and preventing hypomagnesaemia and hypocalcaemia. Another gastrointestinal disease is Cholelithiasis, which is a condition of stone in gallbladder (Tanaja et al. 2017). The intervention of Cholelithiasis are fluid replacement, small frequent meals, and Analgesia.
Cholecystitis is one type of gastrointestinal disease and in this case, the appropriate interventions are antibiotics analgesia ad surgery and Intravenous fluids (Jones et al. 2021). Besides this, Appendicitis is the most common condition that requires abdominal surgery and the interventions of this condition are similar to Cholecystitis and it can be treated with analgesia, antibiotics and surgery. Some other gastrointestinal diseases are Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and it affects the colon; however, this is not dangerous as it can be uncomfortable. According to information, in Australia, there are no medicines for IBS, however, in a few cases doctors can prescribe medicines such as antidiarrheals, antidepressants, antispasmodics and antibiotics (Healthdirect.gov.au, 2020). Coeliac disease is another gastrointestinal disease, where the lining of the small intestine is damaged by small amounts of gluten. The appropriate interventions for this disease is maintaining a gluten-free diet as well as avoiding alcoholic beverages.
Discuss and Justify Likely Needed Nursing Care For Gastrointestinal Patients
Regarding the nursing care of patients with gastrointestinal disease some information interventions can be considered. In likely required nursing care, nurses can include maintaining good nutritional status. For example, nurses can recommend the patients for proper diet as they can recommend patients to avoid excessive amounts of fat intake as well as alcohol consumption because alcohol contributes towards gastritis and gastro-oesophageal reflux (Coutts, 2019). Additionally, if the patient is suffering from Crohn's disease, they can offer liquid food supplements to compensate for that food, which has been missed. Additionally, regarding controlling the symptoms, nurses can consider dietary fibres as they can decrease the risk of developing colorectal cancer. Additionally, nurses can replace the nutrients, for example, if the patient has ileostomy, the salt required to be added to cooking because in case of higher ileostomy losses via intact colon while food intake can be low that is why extra sodium is required. Additionally, nurses can replace vitamin B by injection every 3-months while absorption is present through absence of the gastric acids. Prasad et al. (2020) suggested that regarding coeliac disease, IBS, and other gastrointestinal disease moniprtjg of therapy as well as ongoing assistance can be beneficial as likely required nursing care.
Potential Complication Of Selected Disease Process
Potential complication is the unfavourable result of disease, treatment and health condition. The potential complication related to gastrointestinal disease can lead to poor absorption of nutrients that results in anaemia. For example, coeliac disease is gastrointestinal disease, and people with this disease are susceptible towards other medical conditions such as T1D (type-1 diabetes). Additionally, chronic inflammation, which occurs in the small bowel can also occur in different parts of the body including joints, skin, bones, thyroid, pancreas, and nervous system (Healthdirect.gov.au, 2020). Additionally, when people suffer from Crohn's disease they can develop Osteoporosis because of long-term side-effects of corticosteroid utilisation. Additionally, this gastrointestinal (GI) disease can cause bowel obstruction that increases cramping, abdominal pain, bloating and vomiting (Healthdirect.gov.au, 2020). Next, GI disease leads to malnutrition because it causes food to move quickly through people's bodies and if this condition becomes chronic then it can lead to malnutrition.