Practice Question
A nurse auscultates the abdomen and hears high-pitched, rushing, tinkling sounds. The patient reports cramping. Which condition is most consistent with these findings?
Answer Choices:
Correct Answer:
Small bowel obstruction
Rationale:
🍀 High-pitched, rushing, tinkling bowel sounds are classic for mechanical small bowel obstruction.
🍀 These sounds occur when intestinal contents attempt to move past an obstructed segment.
🍀 The patient often experiences colicky abdominal pain, cramping, bloating, and sometimes vomiting.
🍀 Hyperactive sounds precede eventual silence as the obstruction worsens.
🍀 Therefore, these findings strongly indicate small bowel obstruction.
Peritonitis
🍀 Peritonitis causes diminished or absent bowel sounds, not high-pitched tinkling sounds.
🍀 The abdomen becomes rigid and very painful.
🍀 Inflammation halts peristalsis, leading to ileus, not hyperactivity.
🍀 These findings differ greatly from obstruction-related hyperactive bowel sounds.
🍀 Thus, peritonitis does not match the assessment cues.
Constipation
🍀 Constipation produces sluggish or hypoactive bowel sounds, not rapid tinkling ones.
🍀 Bowel obstruction causes more intense sounds due to trapped air and fluid, unlike simple constipation.
🍀 Constipation does not lead to hyperperistalsis of this nature.
🍀 Symptoms are milder and slower in onset than obstruction.
🍀 Therefore, constipation is not consistent with these assessment findings.
Post-operative ileus
🍀 A postoperative ileus results in absent or very hypoactive bowel sounds.
🍀 The intestines temporarily stop movement after anesthesia or abdominal surgery.
🍀 This condition does not produce tinkling or rushing sounds.
🍀 It presents as quiet abdomen, distention, and no flatus.
🍀 Thus, ileus does not align with the described bowel sounds.
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This question is from Examplify NR304_Quiz 2_NOV25 which contains 10 questions.
More Questions from This Exam
The nurse performs an abdominal exam. Which sequence demonstrates correct assessment order?
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The nurse is going to assess the abdomen of an adult client. What should be done first?
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For which time period would the nurse conclude that the client had no bowel sounds?
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During palpation of the abdomen, the client reports pain in the right lower quadrant. The nurse interprets that this finding could indicate a problem with which of these structures?
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Which cues does the nurse use light palpation to assess for?
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Question Details
- Category: RN Nursing Exam(s)
- Subcategory: Examplify Exam(s)
- Domain: Health Assessment
- Answer Choices: 4