---
name: gastroenterology-assessment
description: Use when asked to administer, score, or explain a Gastroenterology Assessment — GI symptom evaluation with red-flag detection — grounded in FormExamples/form-examples.
---

# Gastroenterology Assessment

Gastrointestinal symptom evaluation covering upper and lower GI,
abdominal pain, and liver/pancreas function, with red flag detection.

## Scoring

**Instrument:** GI Symptom Severity Score — a composite severity score
based on symptom frequency, intensity, and red-flag presence.

## What it covers

Demographics; chief complaint; upper GI symptoms; lower GI symptoms;
abdominal pain assessment; liver and pancreas review; previous GI
history; current medications; allergies and diet; and red flags with
social history.

## Common pitfalls

- **Letting a composite severity score obscure a red flag** — red-flag
  symptoms (unexplained weight loss, GI bleeding, dysphagia, a new
  change in bowel habit over a certain age) warrant urgent action
  regardless of the overall severity score; they shouldn't be averaged
  away into a moderate composite.
- **Treating upper and lower GI symptoms as unrelated** — many
  conditions (e.g. inflammatory bowel disease, coeliac disease) present
  with overlapping upper and lower symptoms; reviewing them separately
  without connecting the pattern can miss the underlying diagnosis.
- **Skipping diet and medication review** — several common GI symptoms
  are drug-induced (NSAIDs, certain antibiotics) or diet-related; a
  symptom-only assessment without this context risks missing a
  modifiable cause.

## Learn more

- [FormExamples: gastroenterology-assessment](https://github.com/FormExamples/form-examples/tree/main/forms/gastroenterology-assessment) for the full implementation, clinical references, and worked examples.