| QUIZ: A 24-year-old woman with nausea and vomiting |
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| Thursday, 19 May 2011 17:50 |
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Lori is a 24-year-old school teacher. She has been referred to your clinic with a 7-week history of persistent nausea and vomiting. She initially thought it might be acid related, so she cut out acidic fruits and drinks with no improvement. She has had a trial of Gaviscon and ranitidine twice daily for 3 weeks with no improvement. She is taking a regular antiemetic, cyclizine three tablets daily, to help to control some of her symptoms. What questions should you ask her? What is your differential diagnosis? What investigations would you do? |













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does she have other symptoms e.g abdominal pain,dull or sharp pain,radiation of pain,any fever,headache, diarrhea,blood with vomiting,about lmp last mesntrual period,medicati on?
what are findings on ph/exam?
lab data?
D/DX rule out of pregnancy before any prescription.
She started taking diclofenac a few months ago for a knee injury. She is on the oral contraceptive pill and has had her last withdrawal bleed 1 month ago.
Any other questions about the patient's history? It's too soon for a physical exam.
in past/hx is there any hx of GERD,gastric ulcer,erosive gasritis.liver disease,hepatit is,hiatal hernia or umblical hernia,hx of abdominal surgery for rule out adhesive band and obstruction?
She has no known medical problems.
what did she ate and does she drink alcohol ???
when does the pain occure .... morning ,evening,after or before meals ???
does she feel relief after vomiting??
what are the doses of diclofenac ,how many times a day,for how long ??
any head trauma ,migraine,concu ssion???
blood morfology + CRP ,panceratic enzymes ,AST,ALT,ALP USG,gastroscopy ,
gastric ulceration , duodeanal ulceration ,gastric erosion wich can be coused by diclofenac...
gastritis ,pancreatitis ,cholecystitis ,food posining, pregnancy and a lot more
She admits drinking a glass of wine every night but has never smoked.
There is no history of head trauma.
The pregnancy test is negative.
FBC, CRP, amylase, AST, ALT, ALP negative.
Abdominal ultrasound normal.
What are the findings in endoscopy?
Our patient is a 24yo old female with a 7 wk history of nausea, vomiting, a dull pain in the upper epigastrium, loss of appetite and constipation (harder and less frequent stool). No other mentioned symptoms. Past medical history clear. No relief with Gaviscon and ranitidine. She's on the Pill, takes cyclizine and occasionally diclofenac after a knee injury few months ago.
Since she's at a reproductive age and on contraception the 1st thought would be pregnancy. The pregnancy test was however negative.
The symptoms seem to be related with the GI tract so we can start by ruling out gastrointestina l causes.
From this point of view, the second most probable diagnosis would be a NSAID-related gastritis since she's been on diclofenac for some time now. In this case a gastroscopy would be helpful.
Apart from these diagnoses and as you've already mentioned above, there is a number of diagnoses concerning the GI tract that should also be excluded. Here's a list from mouth to anus including the previous answers (with a couple personal additions) :
1) GERD
2) peptic ulcer
3) cholecystitis
4) pancreatitis
5) gastroenteritis
6) bowel obstruction
7) appendicitis
8) inflammatory bowel disease
9) irritable bowel syndrome
At this point my question is what information from the patient's history could one use to support or exclude these diseases and what tests should be ordered in each case.
With the above I simply intend to put into order everything that has already been mentioned to make it seem less chaotic.
What about the blod pH value and her teeth enamel?, what about the stool exam, trips to other country 7 weeks (or more) ago ?
I am aiming for DD between Chronic Acidosis and Infection with Giardia/ or other parasite infection
Thank you
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