Abdominal Sounds

Abdominal Sounds: Common Causes

Most of the sounds that you hear your stomach and intestines make are due to normal digestion and are no need for concern. However, if other troubling symptoms occur, a doctor can use a stethoscope to listen to abdominal sounds and determine if there is a problem. Many conditions may cause hyper or hypoactive bowel sounds. Most are benign in nature and require no treatment. However, the following are a list of more serious conditions that can present with abnormal bowel sounds.

Hyperactive, hypoactive, or absent bowel sounds:

• mechanical bowel obstruction (caused by hernia, tumor, adhesions, or similar conditions that can physically block the intestines)
• blood vessel obstruction and its resulting tissue damage (for example, blood clots can cause mesenteric artery occlusion, which prevents the intestines from obtaining a proper blood flow)
• paralytic ileus, a problem with the nerves to the intestines (reduced nerve activity can result from infection, overdistended bowel, trauma, bowel obstruction, vascular obstruction, and chemical imbalances such as hypokalemia).

• drugs that reduce intestinal movements, including opiates (such as codeine), anticholinergics, phenothiazines, and others
• general anesthesia and spinal anesthesia
• irradiation of the abdomen (radiation therapy for cancer)
• surgery in the abdomen (may cause reduced bowel sounds for 1 to 5 days)

• diarrhea (any cause including emotional stress)
• Crohn's disease
• GI bleeding
• ulcerative colitis
• food allergy
• infectious enteritis