'Peasoup' diarrhea is a feature of?

DSSSB - 28 August 2019 (Shift-1)

Medical Surgical Nursing

Easy

Appeared in: DSSSB - 28 August 2019 (Shift-1)

Explanation

'Pea-soup' diarrhea is a classic sign of typhoid fever, an infection caused by the bacterium Salmonella Typhi.
This characteristic appearance, which is typically greenish and has a consistency like thick soup, results from the inflammation, necrosis, and sloughing of the intestinal lining (specifically Peyer's patches).
This symptom usually appears in the second or third week of the illness, often following an initial period of constipation.

Option B: Rotavirus infection typically causes profuse, watery, and non-bloody diarrhea. It is not described as having the thick, greenish appearance of 'pea-soup' stool.
Option C: Gastritis is the inflammation of the stomach lining. Its primary symptoms are upper abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting. Diarrhea is not a characteristic or defining feature of gastritis.
Option D: Cholera is famously characterized by 'rice-water' stool. This stool is profuse, painless, watery, and contains flecks of mucus, which is distinctly different from the thick, colored 'pea-soup' stool of typhoid.

Clinical Relevance

Nursing practice connection: This is primarily an exam-oriented knowledge point with limited direct bedside application, so retain Characteristic Stool Appearance in Gastrointestinal Infections as background academic context rather than a clinical decision trigger.
Observing and accurately describing stool characteristics is a fundamental nursing skill that provides vital clues for the differential diagnosis of infectious gastrointestinal diseases.
Prompt identification of 'pea-soup' diarrhea should raise suspicion for Typhoid fever, leading to earlier diagnostic testing (like blood cultures), initiation of appropriate antibiotic therapy, and implementation of enteric precautions to prevent transmission.
What if? If the patient's stool was described as 'rice-water' instead of 'pea-soup', the priority nursing intervention would immediately shift to aggressive intravenous fluid resuscitation to combat severe dehydration, and the suspected diagnosis would be Cholera.

How to Approach the Question

This is a factual recall question that tests your knowledge of classic, pathognomonic signs of specific diseases.
First, identify the key descriptive phrase in the question stem, which is 'Peasoup' diarrhea.
Next, systematically review the options provided and try to recall the characteristic stool type associated with each disease.
Match the descriptor 'Peasoup' to the correct disease. This is a well-known association with Typhoid fever.
Eliminate the other options by recalling their distinct features. For example, Cholera is linked to 'rice-water' stool, and Rotavirus causes generic watery diarrhea.

Concept Tested & Keywords

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E6 Pathology- ROBBINS & COTRAN PATHOLOGIC BASIS OF DISEASE 10TH Ed p. 788-790

E6 Medicine Davidson Principles Practice 24e p. 285-287