Giardia: Signs, Exam, and Diagnosis (Pediatric Nursing)

00:00 Some patients are asymptomatic.

00:03 These are the classic signs and symptoms and they typically start 9-15 days after exposure but they can start sooner.

00:10 They include greasy, foul-smelling stools, gas, abdominal cramps, nausea and vomiting, weight loss due to the diarrhea, fatigue, difficulty absorbing lactose, vitamin A, folate, and vitamin B12.

00:27 In children, we may see failure to thrive and these acute symptoms can last 2-6 weeks.

00:34 However, diarrhea, this is the hallmark symptom and this can persist for weeks to months if untreated.

00:41 On exam, first we gather a complete health history.

00:45 Then we perform the physical exam and this includes a general observation of your patient.

00:51 We're gonna focus the exam on the GI tract and here you can see on the right, the different four quadrants of the abdomen.

00:57 You know you're gonna go an order during these exams and you're gonna start by listening at the right lower quadrant.

01:03 You're gonna progress up to the right upper quadrant along that ascending colon and then go along the transverse colon to the left upper quadrant.

01:11 Then you'll go down to the left lower quadrant along the descending colon to make sure you hear bowel sounds in all four quadrants.

01:17 This dedicated GI exam can take several minutes.

01:21 Next you'll do your cardiac and respiratory exams.

01:24 So this is the order for the complete abdominal exam.

01:28 First, remember, you just inspect. You're going to look at your patient's abdomen.

01:32 You're gonna look for the shape and the contour.

01:35 Next you'll check the skin for the color and if there's any venous distention.

01:39 Next, you'll look for herniations including the umbilical area, the inguinal area, and the femoral regions.

01:46 Next, you'll auscultate and this is a different order than what you typically do on the body.

01:51 Remember, with the GI system, we auscultate first.

01:55 You're gonna do the bowel sounds and listen for peristalsis.

01:57 You want to listen before touching because as soon as you touch that patient's abdomen, the sounds are gonna change.