abdominal guarding medical definition
Reflex tightening of the muscles of the abdominal wall when pressed upon by the examining hand in the presence of underlying tenderness from inflammation. Guarding makes examination difficult but is, in itself, of diagnostic significance. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Abdominal guarding is the tensing of the abdominal wall muscles to guard inflamed organs within the abdomen from the pain of pressure upon them. The tensing is detected when the abdominal wall is pressed. Abdominal guarding is also known as 'défense musculaire'. People with certain cancers in the abdomen may develop ascites. These include cancer of the appendix, colon, ovaries, uterus, pancreas, and liver. Other conditions that can cause this problem include: 1  Clots in the veins of the liver (portal vein thrombosis)  Congestive heart failure. Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Legal, Idioms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia. Related to guarding: muscle guarding, voluntary guarding, tensing. (gard'ing), A spasm of muscles to minimize motion or agitation of sites affected by injury or disease. The following list of conditions have 'Abdominal guarding' or similar listed as a symptom in our database. This computer-generated list may be inaccurate or incomplete. Always seek prompt professional medical advice about the cause of any symptom. Abdominal guarding: Introduction. Abdominal guarding: A spasm of the abdominal wall muscles to protect inflamed abdominal viscera from pressure; it usually results from inflammation. See detailed information below for a list of 43 causes of Abdominal guarding, Symptom Checker, including diseases and drug side effect causes. » Review Causes of Abdominal guarding: Causes | Symptom Checker ». The following medical conditions are some of the possible causes of Abdominal guarding. guarding (gärˑ·ding), n 1. phenomenon in which muscles react to an injury to a joint, bone or ligament by contracting in order to form a protective splint. 2. a sign detected during physical pain whereby the patient involuntarily contracts muscles second to pain. Physical exam Involuntary muscle spasm elicited by fulminant acute peritonitis, leaving the anterior abdominal muscles in a state of tonic contraction, imparting a board-like consistency to the rectus abdominis muscles, distinguished from voluntary guarding, seen in 'ticklish' Pts. See Abdominal guarding. Ascites is the build-up of fluid in the space between the lining of the abdomen and abdominal organs. Ascites results from high pressure in the blood vessels of the liver (portal hypertension) and low levels of a protein called albumin. Diseases that can cause severe liver damage can lead to ascites. People with certain cancers in the abdomen may develop ascites. These include cancer of the appendix, colon, ovaries, uterus, pancreas, and liver. Other conditions that can cause this problem include: Clots in the veins of the liver (portal vein thrombosis)
The tensing of the abdominal wall muscles to guard inflamed organs within the abdomen from the pain of pressure upon them.