Question for GI's

[daughmis]

1

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[Gastrapathy]

Hello,

I am a grad student in a MBS program. I am conducting market research for a group project and we need to get numerous GI's opinions from a survey. Does anyone have any advice about how to get contacts to take the survey?

Thanks,
Andrew

Hmm, I think you'll have to do some detective work. I very much doubt the AGA would give out the member directory for this sort of purpose. You can contact the offices of GI groups after looking them up in the phone book. You probably need to ask yourself why they are going to take time out of their day to answer your survey. I would recommend making it very very brief.

 

[drSUBLIME]

I have a weird question as a first year medical student. Would the peritoneal cavity be considered a vacuum, devoid of air? on other words, in the same sense that a traumatic pneumothorax disrupts the pleural cavities vacuum, is the same true for the peritoneum? thanks

 

[gastrodoc]

I have a weird question as a first year medical student. Would the peritoneal cavity be considered a vacuum, devoid of air? on other words, in the same sense that a traumatic pneumothorax disrupts the pleural cavities vacuum, is the same true for the peritoneum? thanks

Only if you drop a really big deuce at the right moment.

Seriously, tension pneumos develop becasue the air is pulled in when the diaphram moves down and can't get out this causes an increased intrathoracic pressure which casues the decreased pre-load to the heart and the underfilling of the lung/tracheal deviation which causes all the problems. That's why the treatment is to put in a chest tube-> equalized pressure and lung reinflation.

 

[alfaromeo]

I have a weird question as a first year medical student. Would the peritoneal cavity be considered a vacuum, devoid of air? on other words, in the same sense that a traumatic pneumothorax disrupts the pleural cavities vacuum, is the same true for the peritoneum? thanks

Sublime, you are correct. The peritoneal cavity is a potential space - certainly no air in there. When air gets in (pneumoperitoneum), it's usually due to trauma or visceral perforation but occasionally gas-forming organisms etc. and you might see air under the diaphragm on an erect CXR/AXR.

Gastrodoc is quite right to point out that pneumoperitoneum itself isn't dangerous (like pneumothorax can be) but it usually heralds something pretty nasty.

I wouldn't describe it as a vacuum though - a vacuum is an actual space which is devoid of any matter (not just air) like, erm.... space!