A nurse in an acute care facility is caring for a toddler.
For each assessment finding below, click to specify if the assessment finding is consistent with Crohn's disease, appendicitis, or intussusception. Each finding may support more than 1 disease process.
Pain rating
Vomiting
Stool
Temperature
Abdominal findings
The Correct Answer is {"A":{"answers":"C"},"B":{"answers":"B,C"},"C":{"answers":"A,C"},"D":{"answers":"B"},"E":{"answers":"C"}}
- Pain rating: Severe, intermittent abdominal pain where the child draws their knees to the chest and then returns to normal behavior is a classic symptom of intussusception. Neither Crohn’s disease nor appendicitis typically presents with this pattern, appendicitis pain is usually constant and worsening, while Crohn’s pain is chronic and non-episodic.
- Vomiting: Vomiting in intussusception is common and often non-bilious in early stages, aligning with the child's light-colored emesis. Vomiting also occurs in appendicitis, especially in the early stages. However, it is not a prominent or early symptom of Crohn’s disease unless obstruction is present.
- Stool: The presence of blood and mucus in the stool ("currant jelly stool") is strongly associated with intussusception and may also occur in Crohn’s disease during flares due to colonic inflammation. Appendicitis does not typically cause bloody or mucoid stools, making this finding inconsistent with that diagnosis.
- Temperature: A temperature of 37.4°C is within normal limits, appendicitis however may present with low grade fever. The absence of fever at this time limits its diagnostic value in this case.
- Abdominal findings: A distended abdomen with hypoactive bowel sounds and a palpable sausage-shaped mass in the right upper quadrant is highly indicative of intussusception. These findings are not characteristic of appendicitis, which usually involves RLQ pain, or Crohn’s, which rarely presents with a discrete palpable mass.
Nursing Test Bank
Naxlex Comprehensive Predictor Exams
Related Questions
Correct Answer is ["A","B","C","D","E","F","G","H"]
Explanation
- Client reports feeling unwell: This is clinically significant when combined with fever, foul-smelling lochia, and elevated WBCs; it could indicate systemic infection such as endometritis.
- Fundus boggy but firms with massage: Indicates uterine atony, a risk factor for postpartum hemorrhage. Even if it responds to massage, repeated bogginess suggests the need for uterotonic medications and close monitoring.
- Foul-smelling, dark brown lochia: These findings are highly suggestive of uterine infection (endometritis), especially when paired with uterine tenderness, fever, and elevated WBCs.
- WBC count 33,000/mm³: Severely elevated — well above normal postpartum leukocytosis (typically up to 20,000/mm³). A level of 33,000 strongly suggests an ongoing infectious process.
- Temperature 38.2°C (100.8°F): Slightly elevated, and while low-grade fever is common postpartum, when associated with uterine tenderness and abnormal lochia, it raises concern for infection and should be monitored and managed appropriately.
- Lung sounds diminished in the bases: Could be due to post-surgical hypoventilation, immobility, or atelectasis. Should prompt encouragement of deep breathing, incentive spirometry, and ambulation.
- No bowel movement since birth, hypoactive bowel sounds: This is a common post-cesarean finding due to anesthesia and immobility, but it still indicates delayed return of GI function and should be monitored for signs of ileus.
Correct Answer is C
Explanation
A. Widening pulse pressure. This is typically associated with conditions like increased intracranial pressure or severe aortic regurgitation, not cardiac tamponade. Tamponade usually results in narrowed pulse pressure.
B. Coarse lung sounds. These may indicate fluid overload or pulmonary congestion, but they are not specific to cardiac tamponade and occur later or in different conditions.
C. Muffled heart sounds. This is a classic early sign of cardiac tamponade, caused by fluid accumulation in the pericardial sac, which dampens heart sounds on auscultation. It is part of Beck’s triad (muffled heart sounds, hypotension, and jugular vein distention).
D. Decreased jugular vein distention. In cardiac tamponade, jugular vein distention increases due to impaired venous return to the heart. Decreased JVD would be an unexpected finding in this condition.
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