Gastrointestinal Assessment
Examine your patient’s abdomen with ease with the help of our gastrointestinal assessment template. Click here to download a copy.
Fact Checked by RJ Gumban.
What is a Gastrointestinal Assessment?
A is a test practitioners conduct to assess the patient’s abdomen and contents.
Like other clinical examinations, the healthcare professional must do the following to ensure that they’ve thoroughly examined the gastrointestinal system:
- Inspection
- Palpation
- Percussion
- Auscultation
During this examination, the physician-in-charge must know how to divide the abdomen. Knowing these regions will be helpful when looking for symptoms and writing down results.
The first way to divide the abdomen is into four quadrants. Namely the left upper quadrant, right upper quadrant, lower left quadrant, and right lower quadrant. This method is used to check bowel sounds from the patient’s abdomen.
The second way is to divide it into nine regions. From upper to lower, left to right, the naming is as follows:
- Left Hypochondriac
- Epigastric
- Right Hypochondriac
- Left Lumbar
- Umbilical
- Right Lumbar
- Left Inguinal
- Suprapubic
- Right Inguinal
As for the flow and content of the gastrointestinal, it will depend on the patient’s age and prior diagnoses, if any. However, generally, the practitioner does the following:
- Ask the patient the reason for their visit
- Gather the patient’s gastrointestinal medical history
- Inspect, Auscultate, Palpate, and Percuss the abdomen - not necessarily in that order
Once finished, the practitioner formulates and clinical impression and proceeds to refer the patient to a specialist or have them undergo further testing.
Printable Gastrointestinal Assessment
Download this Gastrointestinal Assessment to effectively assess your patients.
How does it work?
Step One. Download the Template
Access and download a copy of our printable gastrointestinal assessment template by:
- Clicking the “Use this Template” or “Download this Template” button above.
- Searching for “Gastrointestinal Assessment” in Carepatron’s template library on our website or app.
Step Two. Pre-Test Preparations
Before conducting the test, it’s essential to do the following pre-test preparations:
- Wash your hands and introduce yourself to the patient
- Confirm the patient details by asking them to fill out the necessary basic information on the template
- Explain how the test will be conducted
- Ask for the patient’s consent
- Ensure the patient’s privacy
Step Three. Conduct the Test
After finishing the pre-test preparations, you may conduct the test by asking the questions on the template and doing the inspection, auscultation, palpation, and percussion. Remember to listen attentively to the patient’s answer, be observant of the patient’s reactions, and not rush the test unless necessary.
Step Four. Recond the Results
After every step or observation, it’s highly recommended that you write down the results so that the document will be as helpful to yourself and fellow practitioners as possible.
Gastrointestinal Assessment Example (sample)
Here’s our example of a filled-out Gastrointestinal Assessment PDF template. Use this to gain insight into how this assessment may look complete.
You can grab a copy of our template for offline use by clicking the sample below the “Download Example PDF” button above, or directly through the sample below.
Download this Gastrointestinal Assessment Example (Sample) here:
When would you use this Template?
Medical health practitioners can use our downloadable gastrointestinal assessment template while checking the patient’s gastrointestinal system during their routine head-to-toe assessment. However, if a patient is not due for a full-body assessment, it can also depend on their condition. To help you out, here are symptoms when it’s most likely that you must check your patient’s gastrointestinal tract:
- Weight gain or loss
- Swallowing problems
- Belly Pain
- Nausea and vomiting
- Constipation or diarrhea
- Bleeding
- Bloating
- Heartburn
Whether it’s an out-patient or in-patient, if they’re exhibiting these symptoms, it’s encouraged that you have them tested and utilize our template in case you need a guide, reference, or document to record your observations. You are also free to use this template to check if the cause of pain is a gastrointestinal disorder or something else while making a differential diagnosis.
Benefits
Streamline the Process
You're streamlining the process by having a ready-made template with questions to ask and the four significant steps you have to take. It’s because you’re removing the time and effort it takes to look from creating a document to writing results.
Early Recognition
Since the test has most, if not all, bases that need to be covered, you can find the source or cause of the patient’s exhibited symptoms.
Written Copies of Results
A template can also function as a document where you can write results. By utilizing it, you’re effectively reducing the risk of forgetting your findings and can easily refer to your written observations in case fellow practitioners have any questions.
Digitally Accessible
Our template is entirely digital, so you can access and fill it out on any gadget you have. You can use your local PDF editor, or for your ease of editing, filling it out, and storing, do it right on Carepatron’s software.
Why use Carepatron as your Gastrointestinal Assessment app?
Aside from being a software where you can obtain a guide and template for a gastrointestinal assessment, Carepatron is also a leading practice management software that equips you with the means and tools to streamline processes and automate administrative tasks.
Download Carepatron’s app on your desktop or iOs/Android mobile devices, and you’ll see that you can do more than fill out your gastrointestinal assessment. In fact, on Carepatron, you can do the following:
- Edit, download, and print over 700 PDF templates of medical documents like guides, assessments, tests, and surveys.
- Create, scan, or upload templates you can’t find in our library
- Store digital notes and client medical records in our HIPAA-compliant, secure EHR system
- Effortlessly schedule and conduct teleconsultation sessions with your integrated calendar and video call solutions
- Set up an automated payment system for your client
Don’t miss out on the benefits of knocking your responsibilities out of the park by signing up on Carepatron today!
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Commonly asked questions
Physicians who conduct head-to-toe assessments, which usually include a gastrointestinal assessment, and gastrointestinal system specialists such as gastroenterologists will benefit from having a template for this assessment.
You can use the template while examining your patient or checking their condition after surgery, medication, etc.
How you will utilize our gastrointestinal assessment is entirely up to you. You can use it as a guide, reference, etc.
