NURS 6521 Week 4 Assignment: Pharmacotherapy for Gastrointestinal and Hepatobiliary Disorders

NURS 6521  Week 4 Assignment

To Prepare

• Review the case study assigned by your Instructor for this Assignment
• Reflect on the patient’s symptoms, medical history, and drugs currently prescribed.
• Think about a possible diagnosis for the patient. Consider whether the patient has a disorder related to the gastrointestinal and hepatobiliary system or whether the symptoms are the result of a disorder from another system or other factors, such as pregnancy, drugs, or a psychological disorder.
• Consider an appropriate drug therapy plan based on the patient’s history, diagnosis, and drugs currently prescribed.

By Day 7 of Week 4

Write a 1-page paper that addresses the following:

• Explain your diagnosis for the patient, including your rationale for the diagnosis.
• Describe an appropriate drug therapy plan based on the patient’s history, diagnosis, and drugs currently prescribed.
• Justify why you would recommend this drug therapy plan for this patient. Be specific and provide examples. NURS 6521  Week 4 Assignment

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NURS 6521  Week 4 Assignment Sample Solution

Pharmacotherapy for Gastrointestinal and Hepatobiliary Disorders

Patients with various Gastrointestinal (GI) and hepatobiliary disorders present similar symptoms. Consequently, APNs should be careful while assessing these patients to avoid the wrong diagnosis, which would result in the prescription of inappropriate treatment. This paper focuses on the diagnosis of the presented patient, recommendable drug therapy, and justification for the recommended drugs.

Patient Diagnosis and Rationale

Nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea indicate a medical concern. Prednisone might have facilitated these symptoms. Additionally, they could be caused by drug abuse that causes the malfunction of some major organs in the body. Nonetheless, the occurrence of the three symptoms together indicates that an individual has a GI disorder in particular acute appendicitis. Specifically, an individual with acute appendicitis portrays these symptoms following an inflammation of the appendix (Di Saverio et al., 2020). Therefore, Patient HL is suffering from acute appendicitis. However, various diagnostic tests, including examination of the abdomen to check if it is inflated, laparoscopy, and CT scans can be conducted to rule out other conditions with similar symptoms such as intestinal infection (Bhangu et al., 2015). NURS 6521  Week 3 Assignment

Recommendable Drug Therapy

Various drugs can be recommended for this patient, including Amoxicillin/clavulanate 2.2 g + metronidazole 500 mg, and Synthroid 100 mcg daily.

Justification of the Recommendable Drug Therapy

The recommended drug therapy is appropriate for Patient HL. First, Amoxicillin/clavulanate 2.2 g administered hourly would be effective in fighting bacterial infections, thus treating acute appendicitis. This condition occurs due to the obstruction of the appendiceal lumen following the onset of bacterial infection in the body (Snyder et al., 2018). Metronidazole 500 mg will also fight bacterial infections. According to Ceruelos et al (2019), metronidazole 500 mg has been safe and effective in fighting various types of infection. These antibiotics are appropriate for the clients since they are not associated with any sedative effects. Drugs with sedative effects should be avoided since the client has a drug abuse history. Additionally, Synthroid 100 mcg daily would be recommendable for this patient since it restores the level of thyroid hormones, thus treating Hepatitis C that might be present. However, the patient should stop taking two drugs from the current treatment plan. The intake of Nifedipine 30 mg daily should be terminated since this drug is used to treat hypertension, yet the patient does not have any history of hypertension. Additionally, Prednisone is associated with nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting (Guandalini & Vecchio, 2015). Therefore, it is likely to worsen the patient’s symptoms. The patient should be scheduled for follow-up care to evaluate the progress and determine whether he should continue with the current treatment plan or should require an alternative medication.

In conclusion, symptoms presented by Patient HL characterizes acute appendicitis portrays, which occurs following an inflammation of the appendix due to bacterial infection. However, further diagnostic tests should be conducted to rule out other GI disorders with similar symptoms. The recommendable drug therapy for this client includes Amoxicillin/clavulanate 2.2 g + metronidazole 500 mg, and Synthroid 100 mcg daily. Amoxicillin/clavulanate 2.2 g + metronidazole 500 mg would be appropriate for the management of acute appendicitis since the two drugs fight bacteria in the body. Synthroid 100 mcg daily would restore the level of thyroid hormones, thus facilitating the management of Hepatitis C that might be present. Follow-up care should be scheduled to allow for the evaluation of the recommended treatment plan.

References

Bhangu, A., Søreide, K., Di Saverio, S., Assarsson, J. H., & Drake, F. T. (2015). Acute appendicitis: modern understanding of pathogenesis, diagnosis, and management. The Lancet, 386(10000), 1278-1287.

Ceruelos, A. H., Romero-Quezada, L. C., Ledezma, J. R., & Contreras, L. L. (2019). Therapeutic uses of metronidazole and its side effects: an update. Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci, 23(1), 397-401.

Di Saverio, S., Podda, M., De Simone, B., Ceresoli, M., Augustin, G., Gori, A., … & de’ Angelis, N. (2020). Diagnosis and treatment of acute appendicitis: 2020 update of the WSES Jerusalem guidelines. World journal of emergency surgery, 15, 1-42. NURS 6521  Week 4 Assignment

Guandalini, S., & Vecchio, A. L. (2015). Probiotics for prevention and treatment of diarrhea. Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology, 49, S37-S45.

Snyder, M. J., Guthrie, M., & Cagle, S. D. (2018). Acute appendicitis: efficient diagnosis and management. American family physician, 98(1), 25-33. NURS 6521  Week 4 Assignment