abdominal
Meaning of abdominal: As a modifier it states where, not what, so an abdominal finding can belong to any of several body systems.
Definition of abdominal
Abdominal describes anything belonging to or affecting the abdomen, the part of the body between the chest and the hips that holds the stomach, intestines, liver, gallbladder, pancreas, spleen and kidneys. The word runs right through medicine attached to pain, swelling, surgery, examination findings and imaging studies of that region.
What does an abdominal examination involve?
It follows a fixed order, and the order is not arbitrary. Inspection comes first, looking for distension, scars, visible pulsation or asymmetry. Listening with a stethoscope comes second, before anything is touched, because pressing on the abdomen changes bowel sounds and would corrupt what is heard. Tapping the wall follows, which distinguishes gas from fluid and outlines the edge of the liver or spleen. Gentle pressing comes last, starting furthest from the painful area and working toward it, feeling for tenderness, guarding, an enlarged organ or a mass. Findings such as rebound tenderness, in which releasing pressure hurts more than applying it, point toward irritation of the lining of the cavity.
How do the imaging tests differ?
| Test | Best at showing | Limits |
|---|---|---|
| Plain x-ray | Free gas, obstruction, some foreign bodies | Little soft tissue detail |
| Ultrasound | Gallstones, fluid, kidneys, the aorta, pregnancy | Blocked by gas and by body habitus |
| Computed tomography | Nearly everything, in cross section | Uses ionizing radiation |
| Magnetic resonance | Liver, bile ducts and pancreas in fine detail | Slower, less available |
Why can an abdominal symptom come from so many systems?
The region houses organs of digestion, filtration, reproduction and circulation side by side, so the word abdominal fixes the location and nothing else. Abdominal pain may originate in the bowel, the biliary system, a kidney, an ovary, the aorta or the abdominal wall muscles themselves. It can also be referred from the chest, and some causes are chemical rather than structural, as when a metabolic disturbance produces pain with an entirely normal scan. That breadth is the reason an abdominal complaint is usually described by adding position, timing, character and what changes it.
Used in a sentence
The abdominal computed tomography scan was ordered to further evaluate the patient's persistent pain.
Good to know
Abdominal pain localized to one quadrant is generally more informative than pain described as generalized, since particular organs are associated with particular regions, though referred pain from the chest can imitate either pattern.