Overview
Clinical Orientation
An abdominal assessment is not a hunt for one positive sign.
NCLEX-RN
NCLEX-RN
An abdominal assessment is not a hunt for one positive sign. It is a controlled sequence that protects the validity of bowel-sound findings, then uses contour, percussion, palpation, pain patterns, and systemic status to decide whether the patient is stable, needs diagnostic clarification, or may have a surgical emergency. The same symptom can arise from bowel, hepatobiliary, urinary, reproductive, vascular, or retroperitoneal disease. Location and radiation are clues, not diagnoses. Before touching the abdomen, notice the patient’s appearance, pain behaviour, respiratory effort, perfusion, vomiting, stool and flatus, urine output, and—when relevant—the possibility of pregnancy. A patient who looks unwell with tachycardia, hypotension, altered mental status, or a rigid abdomen takes priority over completing every special manoeuvre.
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