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Case Study Analysis 65-year-old African American Male

Gastrointestinal disorders can disrupt one or more gastrointestinal tract functions (McCance & Huether, 2019, p. 1321). Clinical and epidemiologic evidence indicates that chronic inflammation is a risk factor for several gastrointestinal malignancies, including esophageal, gastric, hepatic, pancreatic, and colorectal cancer (Wang & DuBois, 2015). As with the patient in this scenario, his risk of developing colorectal cancer is influenced by his environmental and genetic factors.

Presented Symptoms

African American obese male patient complained of signs and symptoms of gastrointestinal malfunctions. He complained of crampy left lower quadrant pain, constipation, and fevers to 101˚F. This obese patient has had multiple episodes with the same similar symptoms over the past 15 years. Numerous reasons can cause constipation. Given the patient's age and obesity diagnosis, functional constipation is the most common. It is associated with a sedentary lifestyle, low residue diet, or reduced fluid intake, which decreases the volume and number of stools resulting in constipation. Aging can result in constipation caused by the changes in neurons in the myenteric plexus and decreased neurotransmitter function with decreased colon motility (McCance & Huether, 2019, p. 1322). Diverticula disease is associated with constipation. Diverticula are herniations or saclike outpouching of mucosa through the muscle layers of the colon wall(McCance & Huether, 2019, p. 1340). In an African American patient, diverticula can occur anywhere in the GI tract, but the most common sites are in the left colon (McCance & Huether, 2019, p. 1340)……..Continue