signs
Last reviewed 01/2018
The patient with a right-sided colonic carcinoma may be pale and thin, possibly jaundiced.
The supraclavicular nodes may be palpable.
The abdomen may be generally distended or 'full' in the right iliac fossa. The right iliac fossa is often tender with some guarding of the covering muscles. A firm irregular mass may be felt which may be fixed or freely mobile. When it is mobile it tends to slip upwards into the paravertebral gutter or medially and downwards into the pelvis. It is dull to percussion.
The liver may be palpable and irregular.
The bowel sounds should be normal. Hyperactivity indicates obstruction of the ileo-caecal valve.
The faeces may contain blood.