C HAPTER 11: T HE A BDOMEN
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. The physician comments that a patient has abdominal borborygmi. The
nurse knows that this term refers to:
a. Loud continual hum.
b. Peritoneal friction rub.
c. Hypoactive bowel sounds.
d. Hyperactive bowel sounds.
ANS: D
Borborygmi is the term used for hyperperistalsis when the person
actuall y feels his or her stomach growling.
DIF: Cognitive Level: Understanding (Comprehension) REF: p. 549
MSC: Client Needs: Safe and Effective Care Environment:
Management of Care
2. During an abdominal assessment, the nurse would consider which of these
findings as normal?
a. Presence of a bruit in the femoral area
b. Tympanic percussion note in the umbilical reg ion
c. Palpable spleen between the ninth and eleventh ribs in the left
midaxillary line
d. Dull percussion note in the left upper quadrant at the midclavicular
line
, ANS: B
Tympany should predominate in all four quadrants of the abdomen
because air in the int estines rises to the surface when the person is
supine. Vascular bruits are not usuall y present. Normall y, the spleen is
not palpable. Dullness would not be found in the area of lung
resonance (left upper quadrant at the midclavicular line).
DIF: Cognitiv e Level: Understanding (Comprehension) REF: p. 550
MSC: Client Needs: Safe and Effective Care Environment:
Management of Care
3. The nurse is assessing the abdomen of a pregnant woman who is
complaining of having acid indigestion all the time. The nurse kno ws that
esophageal reflux during pregnancy can cause:
a. Diarrhea.
b. Pyrosis.
c. Dysphagia.
d. Constipation.
ANS: B
Pyrosis, or heartburn, is caused by esophageal reflux during pregnancy.
The other options are not correct.
DIF: Cognitive Level: Appl ying (Appli cation) REF: p. 540 MSC:
Client Needs: Physiologic Integrit y: Physiologic Adaptation
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. The physician comments that a patient has abdominal borborygmi. The
nurse knows that this term refers to:
a. Loud continual hum.
b. Peritoneal friction rub.
c. Hypoactive bowel sounds.
d. Hyperactive bowel sounds.
ANS: D
Borborygmi is the term used for hyperperistalsis when the person
actuall y feels his or her stomach growling.
DIF: Cognitive Level: Understanding (Comprehension) REF: p. 549
MSC: Client Needs: Safe and Effective Care Environment:
Management of Care
2. During an abdominal assessment, the nurse would consider which of these
findings as normal?
a. Presence of a bruit in the femoral area
b. Tympanic percussion note in the umbilical reg ion
c. Palpable spleen between the ninth and eleventh ribs in the left
midaxillary line
d. Dull percussion note in the left upper quadrant at the midclavicular
line
, ANS: B
Tympany should predominate in all four quadrants of the abdomen
because air in the int estines rises to the surface when the person is
supine. Vascular bruits are not usuall y present. Normall y, the spleen is
not palpable. Dullness would not be found in the area of lung
resonance (left upper quadrant at the midclavicular line).
DIF: Cognitiv e Level: Understanding (Comprehension) REF: p. 550
MSC: Client Needs: Safe and Effective Care Environment:
Management of Care
3. The nurse is assessing the abdomen of a pregnant woman who is
complaining of having acid indigestion all the time. The nurse kno ws that
esophageal reflux during pregnancy can cause:
a. Diarrhea.
b. Pyrosis.
c. Dysphagia.
d. Constipation.
ANS: B
Pyrosis, or heartburn, is caused by esophageal reflux during pregnancy.
The other options are not correct.
DIF: Cognitive Level: Appl ying (Appli cation) REF: p. 540 MSC:
Client Needs: Physiologic Integrit y: Physiologic Adaptation
