Case Study: Digestion, Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Treatment

This case study presents a 58-year-old patient experiencing abdominal discomfort, sleep issues, and a history of gastric ulcers. The patient's symptoms include abdominal pain, nausea, and yellowing of the eyes (jaundice), leading to concerns of liver dysfunction and gallbladder issues. The case details the patient's medical history, including being overweight and on statins for high cholesterol. Through the analysis of symptoms like elevated white blood cells and bilirubin levels, along with diagnostic tests such as ultrasound imaging, the patient is ultimately diagnosed with cholecystitis and stones in the bile duct, alongside gut inflammation and potentially acute pancreatitis. The case study includes treatment options, such as antacids and proton pump inhibitors, and dietary recommendations following a laparoscopic gallbladder surgery, emphasizing a restricted intake of high-fat foods, more vegetables and fruits, and the restriction of dairy products and caffeine. The case study concludes with a discussion of the patient's surgery and post-operative dietary needs.

Running head: CASE STUDY
Case Study on Digestion
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1CASE STUDY
Answer 1.
The conditions for the cause of the symptom in the patient’s body are long gaping of
food, constant pain in the abdomen, which elevated after consumption of food; caffeine also
elevates the condition of gastric ulcer, sleeping disorders along with nausea and lastly pain
during respiration. The patient had a history gastric ulcer, which can also be the cause of
these symptoms. The patient is also overweight.
Answer 2.
The primary treatment for the gastric ulcer is consumption of antacids. It is used as
the primary treatment option because it diminishes the stomach acid production. Some drugs
such which belongs to the proton pump inhibitors which actually reduces the acid production
of the stomach cells. These drugs are basically histamine receptors blockers which protects
and relieve pain in the abdomen as well (Sykes et al. 2014). Examples are omeprazole,
lansoprazole.
Answer 3.
The patient is having pain during breathing because the condition indicates spasm in
the muscle; the patient also reported a condition of cramp in the abdomen which may be the
cause of the pain during vigorous expiration. The abdominal muscles drives the intra-
abdominal pressure upwards pushing or elevating the diaphragm up along with elevating the
pleural pressure of the body.
Answer 4.
The patient showed symptoms where the sclera (white of the eye) was turning yellow
in colour. The condition indicates the presence of extremely high bilirubin in the serum and
blood. The symptom is visible because bilirubin is a yellowish substance, which increases

2CASE STUDY
due to inappropriate functioning of the liver. The condition may be an indication of jaundice
occurring in the patient.
Answer 5
The patient is showing elevated levels of White Blood Cells. (WBC) It is possible that
the patient already suffering from ulcerative colitis is the cause of this. This is caused by
abnormal immune response in the gut, which may be the primary cause of increase in WBC.
The same reason may be the cause of fever, which is one of the primary immune responses of
the body.
Answer 6
The patient showed elevated level of bilirubin in the body. The patient is diagnosed
with cholecystitis at the end along with inflammation in the gut. The bilirubin that was found
in the body of the patient is generally unconjugated bilirubin due to dysfunction of the liver
or hepatic cells. It is also elevated during blocking in the bile duct due to gallstone.
Answer 7.
The patient was diagnosed with stones in the duct. The common diagnosis test can be
ultrasound imaging techniques. The technique scans with the help of high frequency waves of
sound to get the image of the bile duct. The imaging shows inflammation in the area of the
gall also called abdominal ultrasound technique (Sawicki et al. 2015). The ultrasound will
show inflammation and blockage in the area of the bile duct.
Answer 8.
The patient showed high level of alkaline phosphatase and normal level of alanine
aminotransferase along with amylase and lipase. It can be concluded that if the both the
amylase and lipase is elevated in the blood stream of the patient. The condition can be

3CASE STUDY
inflammation in the pancreas also called acute pancreatitis. The condition is related because
the patient had a complain of abdomen pain, nausea. The pain rises after consumption of
food.
Answer 9.
The patient had a surgery of gallbladder named laparoscopic operation. The diet plan
of the patient must be limited or restricted intake of high fat containing food. It needs less
complex food as to its easy breakdown in the food. The diet will be healthy if it comprises of
more vegetables and fruits. The food like dairy products, caffeine must be restricted due to
easy digestion. The consumption of water must be more for maintaining the body dehydrated
(Schiavo et al. 2017).

4CASE STUDY
References
Sawicki, M., Marlicz, W., Czapla, N., Łokaj, M., Skoczylas, M.M., Donotek, M. and
Kołaczyk, K., 2015. Massive upper gastrointestinal bleeding from a splenic artery
pseudoaneurysm caused by a penetrating gastric ulcer: case report and review of
literature. Polish journal of radiology, 80, p.384.
Schiavo, L., Scalera, G., Pilone, V., De Sena, G., Ciorra, F.R. and Barbarisi, A., 2017. Patient
adherence in following a prescribed diet and micronutrient supplements after laparoscopic
sleeve gastrectomy: our experience during 1 year of follow‐up. Journal of human nutrition
and dietetics, 30(1), pp.98-104.
Sykes, B.W., Sykes, K.M. and Hallowell, G.D., 2014. A comparison of two doses of
omeprazole in the treatment of equine gastric ulcer syndrome: a blinded, randomised, clinical
trial. Equine veterinary journal, 46(4), pp.416-421.