45 y.o. African American male with an intussusception
Brandi Weaver, PA-S
Bethel University
History of Present Illness
On 8/3/2015 a 45 year old African American male presented to the ER with a chief compliant of diffuse abdominal pain and trouble having a bowel movement. The patient stated that he was experiencing rectal pain with bloody stools. He also complained of feeling his bowels pulling. The patient stated that he has lost roughly 40 pounds in the past month without trying to lose weight. He stated that this has been going on for 2 months now and he has dealt with it intermittently but is has recently gotten much worse. He also stated that he has a family history of colon cancer and denies any follow-up.
Social History …show more content…
These infectious conditions include lymphoid hyperplasia, Kaposi’s sarcoma, and non- Hodgkin’s lymphoma. (Marinis and Samanides, 2009)
Signs and Symptoms
The presentation of intussusception is different depending on the population of the patients. Pediatric patients seem to have more signs and symptoms than adult patients. The signs and symptoms of intussusception in the adult population is nonspecific. However, the most common symptom is intermittent abdominal pain. Other symptoms included nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Adult patients can also present with signs and symptoms that mimic partial bowel obstruction such as melena, weight loss, fever and constipation. Lastly, some adult patients can present asymptomatic. (Taylor and Lalani, 2013)
Infants with intussusception can present with loud crying, knees to chest and intermittent pain. The most common and key sign of intussusceptions in infants is the “currant jelly” stool. Currant jelly stool is a mixture of blood and mucus. Other symptoms include vomiting, lethargy diarrhea, fever, constipation. There may be a palpable lump in the infant abdomen. (Miller and Shrier,