When most patients have blood in the stool, they often think that they have "hemorrhoids" and think that they can be solved with medication, but some blood in the stool is not only hemorrhoids but may also be other diseases, today I will teach you how to distinguish blood in the stool!
1. What is blood in the stool?
Blood in the stool refers to the discharge of gastrointestinal bleeding from the anus, the stool is bright red, dark red, tarry black, a small amount of bleeding will not cause the color of the stool to change, it needs to be determined by the fecal occult blood test, called occult blood stool.
2. What are the types of blood in the stool?
First of all, the common is bloody stool, which is due to the amount of bleeding, the speed is fast, or the bleeding site is close to the anus; secondly, black stool, the stool appears tarry-black, this kind of bleeding mostly stays in the intestine for a long time, and the blood is broken down by the digestive tract; the second is pus and bloody stool, which is mixed with blood and pus in the stool; and finally there is occult blood stool, because the amount of bleeding is small, red blood cells are easy to be decomposed, and it is necessary to detect trace bleeding by special detection methods.
3. What are the causes of blood in the stool?
Blood in the stool is caused by tissue damage, blood vessel rupture, or coagulopathy. The cause often varies depending on the symptoms that accompany blood in the stool:
1. Melena is accompanied by chronic recurrent epigastric pain, which is periodic and rhythmic, and is more common in peptic ulcers. Blood in the stool with abdominal pain can also be seen in infectious intestinal diseases, such as bacillary dysentery, inflammatory bowel disease, intussusception, ischemic enteritis, etc.;
2. Blood in the stool accompanied by anal distention, pain, and prolapse often indicate rectal and anal canal diseases, such as mixed hemorrhoids, anal fissures, proctitis, rectal tumors, etc.;
3. Blood in the stool accompanied by fever, mostly seen in infectious diseases, such as bacillary dysentery, epidemic hemorrhagic fever, inflammatory bowel disease, leukemia, etc.;
4. Blood in the stool with systemic bleeding tendency: seen in epidemic hemorrhagic fever, leukemia, Henoch-Schonlein purpura, hemophilia, etc.;
5. Blood in the stool with skin changes, such as spider angiomata and palmar erythema, more common in liver cirrhosis, blood in the stool with skin telangiectasia, can be seen in hereditary telangiectasia;
6. Blood in the stool with abdominal mass: can be seen in colon cancer, intestinal tuberculosis, intussusception, Crohn's disease, etc.
4. What medications may cause blood in the stool or black stool?
1. Taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, such as ibuprofen, etc.
2. Antiplatelet and anticoagulants, such as aspirin, clopidogrel, etc.
3. Glucocorticoids, such as prednisone, dexamethasone, etc.
4. Taking large amounts of iron may cause black stools.
5. How to prevent the occurrence of blood in the stool?
1. Prevent gastrointestinal bleeding. Spicy diets, overeating, and heavy alcohol consumption may damage the mucosa of the gastrointestinal tract and lead to gastrointestinal bleeding.
2. Prevent bleeding caused by hemorrhoids and anal fissures. Dry stool, poor bowel movements, long bowel movements, sedentary times, and low-fiber diets can easily induce hemorrhoids and bleeding caused by anal fissures.
3. Prevent bleeding due to acute activity of inflammatory bowel disease. Overexertion and emotional instability can precipitate acute activity and bleeding in inflammatory bowel disease.
If there are symptoms of blood in the stool, we must identify the cause, especially when accompanied by other symptoms, we should go to a regular medical institution in time.
Author: Yang Chun
Source: Shenyang Anorectal Hospital
Editor: Zhao Shengnan, Liu Juan
Varsity: Zhang Miao, Chen Zeming
Preliminary review: Zhao Xiu
Review: Xu Jiang