Abstract
This paper is a journal article review of an article by Kristine L. Eckert on penetrating and blunt abdominal trauma, describing the focus of the article and the presentation of health assessment rationales. This is followed by an evaluation of the article, what it did well, why it was interesting, and its beneficial aspects and clear explanation.

From the Paper
"In her article for the Critical Care Nursing Quarterly volume issue 'Penetrating and Blunt Abdominal Trauma' Kristine L Eckert BSN RN CEN discusses general principles of abdominal assessment for use in the case of abdominal injuries related to both penetrating and blunt mechanisms of injury. The population she addresses is adult and male all victims of abdominal and other traumatic injury. Eckert points out that there are differences between solid and hollow organs and she discusses the anatomy and physiology ..."

Tags:penetrating, blunt, abdominal trauma, journal article review, Eckert

Abstract
This paper examines an article 'Assessment of the Patient with Acute Abdominal Pain', written by E. Cole, A. Lynch, and H. Cugnoni and published by the "Nursing Standard" journal in 2006, directed at nursing trainees but also of benefit to other medical professionals. The article presents a framework for assessing, diagnosing and caring for patients with acute abdominal pain. The author points out that acute abdominal pain is a frequent reason for people accessing health care services; therefore, nurses must understand factors, such as the location of pain and the grouping of symptoms, which are important for a correct diagnosis. The paper concludes that the article is clearly written and relates information in an interesting and yet professional manner.

Table of Contents:
Introduction
Summary
Evaluation
Conclusion

From the Paper
"Pain position, radiation, and intensity is established by asking the patient to point to where the pain is, including whether the pain is localized or radiating over a larger area, and also by asking the patient to assess his or her pain on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest level of pain. Abdominal pain may be caused by a disorder of one or more organs within the abdominal cavum, which includes the kidneys, liver, spleen, gall bladder, small and large intestines, and pancreas, while abdominal organs such as the female reproductive organs, bladder, sigmoid colon, appendix, caecum, and rectum, are found within the pelvis."

Tags:complexities, professional, history, pelvis, informative

Abstract
The paper relates that the use of patient simulation is one of the fastest growing technologies used in nursing education curriculum today, and confirms that patient simulation provides a standardized clinical circumstance in which a student can learn. The paper continues and comments that rupturing and dissecting abdominal aortic aneurysms are among the highest misdiagnosed areas of medicine today. Nursing student and novice nurses rarely get an opportunity to engage with this type of patient in a learning environment. The paper concludes that use of patient simulation may be a device educators can use to bridge the gap between aortic aneurysm and the novice nurse.

Outline:
Introduction
Advantages to Patient Simulation
Adult Learning Theory and Student Centered Learning
Theoretical Framework
Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms: Where Simulation Can Help
Curriculum
Tenets for Teaching using Technology
Components for Implementing Simulation
Evaluation

From the Paper
"Prior to the use of simulation, students learned through skills labs and practiced on fellow students. When students perform assessments on peers, they rarely find anything abnormal and usually find values in normal ranges (Medley & Horne, 2005, 33). Patient simulation lessens the difficulty nursing students experience when transitioning from clinical lab to actual patient situations (Medley & Horne, 2005, 31). This becomes particularly important in patients with difficult diagnoses. In addition, patient simulators can provide clinical situations that may not be fully developed in real life (Waldner & Olson, 2007, 1). Clinical situations can often be unpredictable or not meet the students' needs at that particular time. Patient simulation provides a standardized clinical circumstance in which a student can learn (Waldner & Olson, 2). Patient simulation offers opportunity to either interrupt simulation or wait until the end for discussion."

Tags:simulation, technology, novice, student, aneurysm

From the Paper
"Abdominal injuries are common and are the most frequent cause of unnecessary death due to hemorrhage and rupture. Emergency treatment of abdominal injuries or trauma, as with other injuries, begins with assessing the severity and giving immediate care (5:256). It is important to ensure adequate airway. Intubate if necessary, and administer oxygen. The cervical spine should be immobilized if cervical spine injury is possible.


The next step is to assess ventilation. Auscultate the chest for the presence of symmetric breath sounds. A search of flail segments and chest wounds should be made, and a thoracostomy as indicated for pneumothorax should be performed. After this, adequacy of circulation should be noted. Palpate for the presence of pulses, look for signs of shock, and stop gross..."

From the Paper
"Abdominal Emergency

Abdominal emergencies can be broadly grouped into patients who present with either abdominal injury, abdominal pain, or both. In any case, the physician must determine the severity of the situation (9:1418). Urgent circumstances require attentiveness to the patient's immediate needs (9:1418).

In cases of abdominal injury, immediate life.threatening injuries should take precedence (9:718). A useful way to organize this effort is according to the ABCs of trauma: specifically, obtaining an airway, assuring adequate ventilation, and restoring circulating blood volume (9:718). Only at that point can further steps towards treatment be undertaken.

Furthermore, anytime a patient comes into the emergency department with severe abdominal trauma, a surgeon should be ..."

Abstract
In this patient care study, the author looks at a 62-year-old female with complaints of lower abdominal pain, with hematuria and dysuria. The patient lives at home with her husband. She has seven grown children as well as grandchildren and admits to financial concerns. The author describes the patient's full medical history and all the medical tests and treatments she has undergone prior to this study. The paper gives the results of an intravenous pyelogram, cystoscopy, and biopsy as reported in patient history and gives a full summary of all of the laboratory results. Based on the information given in the tests and the patient's history, the author concludes that the patient has type II diabetes. He suggests that she needs to work on her lifestyle in order for recurring problems not to happen.

Table of Contents
Patient History
Laboratory Tests
Other Nursing Measures
Nursing Process and Care Plan
Nursing Diagnoses
Discharge Summary
Summary

From the Paper
"An intravenous pyelogram produces an image of the kidneys, ureter, and bladder by administering a radiopaque contrast medium that is cleared from the bloodstream and concentrated by the kidneys. This part of the initial assessment of a suspected urologic problem provides a rough estimate of kidney infection. Pre-procedure nursing considerations include: assessment of patient for allergies, the use of laxatives for the elimination of feces and gases from the intestinal tract, liquid restriction 8 to 10 hours before test, and instructions concerning the procedure itself and sensations felt during the procedure. A cystoscopy is the direct visualization of the urethra and bladder using a cystoscope. Sedatives may be used prior to the procedure. A brush biopsy may be performed after a cystoscopic examination in order to obtain cells and surface tissue fragments for histologic analysis."

Tags:urine, pain, examination, arthritis, blood, diet, treatment, condition

Abstract
The paper focuses on a case of an 8-month old female with gastroschisis and details her clinical situation, treatment in the hospital, the family's functional status and an assessment of the child's development and growth. The paper provides a discussion of gastroschisis, including its prevalence, external and internal factors that affect it and its pathophysiology. The paper also describes the management needs this child has and outlines current research on catheter use and sepsis.

Outline:
Introduction
The Child and her Family
Developmental Milestones
Laboratory Results
Fluids and Nutrition
Medications
Client Learning Needs
Pathophysiology of Gastroschisis
Application of a Nursing Research
Summary

From the Paper
"Gastroschisis is a congenital abdominal wall defect and is associated with a significant fetal and neonatal mortality rate of less than 10% (Vu, Nobuhara, Laurent, and Shaw, 2008). The intestines protrude through the defect and are exposed to the amniotic fluid, which has toxic substances, such as urine and small quantities of antenatally-defecated material. This may result to life-crippling complications such as bowel atresias and increased risk for sepsis. Such effects in the child's quality of life may lead to a prolonged stay in hospitals and consequent high health care cost."

Tags:intestines, bowels, liver, nutrition, medication, sepsis, catheter, feeding

Abstract
This paper examines the connection between an aortic graft to a duodenum fistula as a cause for upper GI bleeding. Generally, aortic grafts are used to treat abdominal aortic aneurysms. The paper defines aortic aneurysms as a weak area in the wall of the abdominal aorta, the artery that carries blood from the heart to the rest of the body. The paper concludes that aortic grafting can be a major cause of GI bleeding as an after effect of treating an abdominal aortic aneurysm and a method of treatment requires replacement of the stent-graft.

From the Paper
"Treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysms may require surgery but for some patients, a new non-surgical treatment called stent-graft repair can be performed. The following is the results of a prospective, nonrandomized, multicenter clinical trial that compared endovascular stent graft exclusion of abdominal aortic aneurysms with open surgical repair. During an 18-month period, 250 patients with infrarenal aneurysms underwent treatment at 12 study sites. 190 patients underwent endovascular repair using the Medtronic AneuRx stent graft (Sunnyvale, California), and 60 underwent open surgical repair. There was no significant difference in operative mortality rates between the groups. The patients who underwent stent grafting had significant reductions in blood loss and days in the intensive care unit and in the hospital, with an earlier return to function. Primary technical success at the time of discharge for the patients with stent grafts was 77%, largely as a result of a 21% endoleak rate. At one month, the endoleak rate had decreased to 9%."

Tags:hemodynamic, instability, Medtronic, AneuRx, ultrasonography, Talent

Abstract
This paper explains that ovarian cancer is the 'Silent Killer' because, 70 to 75% of the time, by the time the cancer is discovered, it has spread to other areas of the body, especially into the abdomen. By then, it is too late to hope for a recovery. The author points out that abdominal swelling, abdominal or pelvic pain, and a feeling of fullness are some of the symptoms of ovarian cancer, which are common symptoms to many other disorders; therefore, doctors, presented with these symptoms immediately should perform a pelvic and recto-vaginal examination, order some blood tests including CA125, and order a transvaginal ultrasound examination. The paper relates that, although the direct cause of ovarian cancer is not known, some of the major risk factors are family history and breast cancer at an early age; other factors are menopause, obesity, early menarche, late first pregnancy, the use of clomiphene citrate to encourage pregnancy, and infertility.

From the Paper
"Sometimes it so happens that the cancerous cells break away from the original tumor and end up in another entirely different part of the body. This process is known as 'metastasis'. Many different kinds of tumors can be formed within the ovaries of a woman, in fact more than thirty known types. However, ovarian cancers are generally divided into three main categories, according to the type of cells that formed them, which are epithelial cancers, that are the most common form of ovarian cancers, and which are formed from the various cells that line or cover the ovaries. The second broad category of ovarian cancer is the germ cell cancer, which in other words means that this cancer starts from germ cells within the ovaries."

Tags:laparotomy, ultrasound, gene, breast, surgery

Abstract
This paper examines a common assumption that children and adolescents with inflammatory bowel disease or functional gastro-intestinal complaints are children who have impaired psycho-social adjustment and how coordinated care for maintenance of optimum functioning is often required. It considers a two-year-old girl with gastro-intestinal problems which include recurrent abdominal pain, diarrhea, constipation and vomiting and how she is obviously not able to communicate well about what is happening in her body.

Outline
Introduction
Case Study
Tests
Possible Diagnoses
Problem Management

From the Paper
"Given the results from the MRI, several other diseases were dismissed as likely causes of the child's problem. At this point, the tendency of the team was to identify the child as having one of the functional gastrointestinal disorders. As Hyams (1999) noted, this is often a diagnosis that is seen as pejorative, or as indicating that it is the child's problem, and that it is more psychological than physiological. However, Hyams indicated, this is a negative, and inaccurate, way to look at the problem. There clearly is a disease state existing for most of these children, but technology and testing are not able to pinpoint the exact source of the problem. Thus, we are left with diagnoses like irritable bowel syndrome, chronic nonspecific diarrhea, functional constipation, non-ulcer dyspepsia, and indeterminate colitis."

Tags:depression, psychology, disease, diagnosis