PRACTICUM
Hitherto, epidemiological and clinical studies suggest that theprevalence of indigestion and gastrointestinal disease isspecifically high in adults (Pilotto et al., 2011). This paperaddresses the description of the patient’s condition, possibleprescriptions, and procedures followed towards his or her treatment.
Subjective: Mrs. X. is a 70-year-old and has been complainingof abdominal pain and indigestion. The unceasing pain is situated inthe left inferior quadrant of the abdomen. She complains of heavybreathing problems which accompany the pain. Eating leads to theproduction of excess gas making her feel bloated. She has been takingRolaids to lessen the pain, but it did not help. She has also been onNSAIDs for the pain relief and propranolol for her blood pressure.She had been prescribed to digoxin and diazepam. Social Hx-She walks2-times a week for 45 minutes. Rarely drinks and does not smoke atall. ROS-Decrease in appetite, feet rush and fear of eating. NSAIDshave gastrointestinal side effects such as gastrointestinal bleeding(Ellis, 2005).
Objective: Vital signs: BP 126/85 P 70BPM R 20BREATHS T99.1degree.
Thepatient is much friendly and well groom an indication she is not inany distress.
Cardiac:No murmur or gallop. Heavy breathing
Abdominal:No surgical scars. Usual sound bins the bowel. The pain was felt onlight palpitation of the upper left quadrant.
Assessment:
1-AbdominalPain-Presentation suggested availability of gallstone disease
2.High blood pressure which resulted in the heavy breathing
2.Athletes foot
Plan: For the abdominal pain: workup willinvolve a sonogram of the RUQ and blood count and liver chemistrieswith an EKG. For athlete’s foot, use OTC Lamisil and keep feet dryalways. Trentin (2007), mentions the use verapamil drugs for thepressure, which is applicable in her condition. We will follow up thepatient’s results and improvement.
For a similar patient evaluation, there should be measures to betaken before giving prescriptions (Pilotto et al., 2011). Notall patients will improve with the prescription of similar drugs. Useof the STOPP tool would help adverse identity risks in older patientshence reducing the danger of prescribing these risky drugs to them.Assessment in these areas will establish a targeted treatment plan,which leads to optimization of medical care and improved diagnosticaccuracy (Parks et al., 2012).
References
Ellis G. (2005). Langhorne Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment forolder hospital patients. 71:45-59
Parks et al., (2012). Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment forOlder Women with Early Breast Cancer: A systematic Review ofLiterature. World Journal of Oncology, 10(88) 1-9.doi: 10.1186/1477-7819-10-88
Pilotto et al. (2011). Association of Upper GastrointestinalSymptoms with Functional and Clinical Characteristics in the Elderly.World Journal of Gastroenterology, 17(25): 3020-3026.doi:10.3748/wjg.v17.i25.3020
Trentin M. (2007). Age aging. 36(6): 670-6755