Stomach rumble

Uncommon card · No. 195203

A stomach rumble, also known as a bowel sound, peristaltic sound, abdominal sound, bubble gut or borborygmus (pronounced ; plural borborygmi), is a rumbling, growling or gurgling noise produced by movement of the contents of the gastrointestinal tract as they are propelled through the small intestine by a series of muscle contractions called peristalsis. A trained healthcare provider can listen to these intestinal noises with a stethoscope, but they may be audible enough to be heard with the naked ear as the fluid and gas move forward in the intestines (in the vicinity of, but not actually within the stomach). The lack of bowel sounds can occur with ileus, intestinal obstruction, or other pathologies, but there is no evidence that listening for their absence is useful for diagnosis.

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