While assessing a patient with acute abdominal pain, you note that his abdomen is very rigid. When asked to relax his stomach muscles, he does. The EMT would recognize:

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Voluntary guarding occurs when a patient consciously tenses their abdominal muscles, often in response to pain or anticipation of pain, but can relax them upon request or when distracted. This is in contrast to involuntary guarding, where the muscle tension cannot be consciously controlled by the patient.

While Assessing a Patient with Acute Abdominal Pain, You Note