ACUTE GASTROENTERITIS

(AGE)
By: Rosemarie S. Verola

Outline

Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about he definition, etiology, general signs and
.symptoms and pathophysiology of Acute Gastroenteritis

Central Idea: Gastroenteritis is the inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract, involving both
.the stomach and the small intestine resulting to acute diarrhea

Introduction
!I. Good afternoon everyone
?A. Does anyone here can guess what this picture shows
!B. Yes, all of our answers are correct
C. This picture shows one of the common manifestations of a gastrointestinal disease and that
.is DIARRHEA
D. Today, I am going to discuss Acute Gastroenteritis which is commonly seen and observed
.on our pediatric clients

Body

?I. What is Acute Gastroenteritis

A. It is also known as gastric flu or stomach flu although it is unrelated to influenza. It is an
inflammation of gastrointestinal tract, involving both stomach and small intestine which
.results to diarrhea
B. Its mode of transmission is through fecal-oral which means, it can be transferred by contact
.with contaminated food and water
C. The inflammation is caused most often by an infection from certain viruses or bacteria,
.their toxins, parasites or an adverse reaction from diet or medication

II. Certainly, we often handle AGE cases on pediatric clients who are DOPES (depressed,
oppressed, poor, exploited, and struggling). What are the possible factors that could cause or
?aggravate AGE
A. Poor environmental sanitation
B. Improper food preparation
C. Contaminated drinking water
D. Poor hygiene
(E. Medication (laxatives
(F. Diet (food intolerance

Transition: To know more about Acute Gastroenteritis, here are the etiology and common)
(.manifestations
.III. These are the causative agent or etiology that can cause Acute Gastroenteritis
A. Different species of bacteria can cause gastroenteritis including Salmonella, Shigella,
Staphylococcus, Camphylobacter jejuni, Escherichia Coli, Yersina, Vibrio Cholera and
.others
B. Viruses causing gastroenteritis include Rotavirus, Norovirus, Adenovirus, Astrovirus and
.others
?IV. What are the signs and symptoms of a client affected with Acute Gastroenteritis
A. It often involves stomach pain or spasms, diarrhea and/or vomiting with inflammatory
.infection of intestines
B. Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite, fever, headache, abnormal flatulence,
.abdominal pain, abdominal cramps, bloody stools and weakness

V. Because of the presenting signs and symptoms, you may be curious how this disease may
.happen
(Transition: Let's start with the pathophysiology presented in the diagram)

A. It all start with the ingestion of contaminated food and water, then as it pass to GI tract, it
.will directly invade the bowel wall
B. The microbes which invade the bowel wall will release toxins, the cytotoxin and
.endotoxin
C. The endotoxin will cause increase in the permeability of mucosal lining of the bowel.
Because of this, sodium will move out of the cell. We all know that "Salt attracts Water" so
.the water will be drawn out into intestinal lumen
D. Because of that, there will be increase in peristaltic movement which will cause frequent
.passage of watery stool
E. Fluid and electrolyte imbalances may arise because of diarrhea which will progress to
.metabolic acidosis
F. In case of severe diarrhea, fluid volume deficit will arise which will lead to the fatal
.hypovolemic shock

Transition: On the other hand, aside from endotoxin, cytotoxin, which is also released by)
(.microbes, may also affect the normal process in our digestion

.G. Cytotoxin will cause irritation and inflammation in the bowel wall
H. Because of this, mucosal lining will be destroyed causing ulceration and bleeding that
.could lead to bloody stools
I. In addition, destruction of mucosal lining could also lead to digestive malformation which
.could lead to malabsorption causing malnutrition to the infected individual
.J. It could also lead to excessive gas formation causing GI distention and flatulence
.K. It could also lead to increase in peristalsis causing Diarrhea

Conclusion
I. Thank you for listening! I hope you learned something from my brief presentation of Acute
.Gastroenteritis
!II. A pleasant afternoon to everyone

References
Book Source
Bullock, B.L. 1995. Pathophysiology: Adaptations and Alterations in Function. Lippincott
.Williams & Wilkins