Physical Examination of Abdomen

Abstract

Abdominal examination includes inspection, palpation, percussion and auscultation. The examination is performed following this sequence: inspection, auscultation, percussion and palpation. However, for a uniform format when recording the examination, we still conform to the basic steps of inspection, palpation, percussion and auscultation. There are two reasons to explain the change of the examination sequence: firstly, it’s convenient to perform the auscultation of the abdomen after that of the heart; at the same time, it can also avoid negative impacts of a series of palpations on the auscultation of bowel sounds due to the alteration of gastrointestinal peristalsis. Palpation is the most important step in abdominal examination.