Change in bowel habit
| Change in bowel habit | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
| Specialty | Gastroenterology |
| Diagnostic method | Stool test: microscopy, culture, fecal calprotectin, FIT test[1][2] Urinalysis[2] Blood tests[1] Medical imaging[1] Endoscopy[1] |
| Frequency | Common[2] |
Change in bowel habit is an alteration in a person's usual pattern of passing stool, typically presenting as constipation or diarrhea.[1]
There may be one cause or a combination.[2] It may be a change in the frequency of passing stool or a change in its consistency, or a combination of both.[1] Common causes of constipation include diet, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), sedentary lifestyle, medications, anal fissure, piles, and genital warts.[2] Less common are hypothyroidism, bowel cancer, inadequate fluid intake, acquired megacolon, and diverticulosis.[2] Rarely is the diagnosis a pressing pelvic mass, bowel obstruction, Crohn's disease, or Hirschsprung's.[2] Causes of constipation may also be divided as congenital, mechanically obstructive, lifestyle, perianal pain causes, metabolic and endocrine, neurological, and functional.[1] Common causes of diarrhea include gastroenteritis, medications, IBS, diverticulitis, and overflow in constipation.[2] Less frequent causes include long-term bowel infection, lactose intolerance, inflammatory bowel disease, coeliac disease, and alcohol intoxication.[2] Rarely is the diagnosis HIV, appendicitis, hyperthyroidism, malabsorption, allergy, or ovarian cancer.[2] Causes of diarrhea may also be divided as infective, inflammatory, ischaemic, functional, osmotic, malabsorption, overflow, medication induced, and systemic illness.[1]
Tests include a stool test for microscopy and culture, fecal calprotectin, and FIT test.[1][2] Other tests include blood tests,urinalysis, medical imaging, and endoscopy.[1][2]
Change in bowel habit is common.[2] 39-85% of colorectal cancer present with change in bowel habit.[3][4]
Images
-
Pot for microscopy and culture of stool -
Pot for FIT test of stool -
Urinalysis -
Colonoscopy
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 Eiben, Inez; Eiben, Paola; Watson, Kathryn (2019). "12. Change in bowel habit". Crash Course General Medicine (5th ed.). Elsevier. ISBN 978-0-7020-7372-4.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 Hopcroft, Keith; Forte, Vincent (2020). "Abdomen". Symptom Sorter. Boca Raton: CRC Press. pp. 6–49. ISBN 978-0-367-46810-1.
- ↑ Ajithkumar, Thankamma; Barrett, Ann; Hatcher, Helen; Jefferies, Sarah Jane (2021). "7. Cancers of the gastrointestinal system". Oxford Desk Reference: Oncology (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 178–179. ISBN 978-0-19-874544-0.
- ↑ Adelstein, Barbara-Ann; Macaskill, Petra; Katelaris, Peter H.; Irwig, Les (2018). "2. Bowel symptoms in relation to colorectal cancer". In Olsson, Louise (ed.). Timely Diagnosis of Colorectal Cancer. Switzerland: Springer. pp. 28–29. ISBN 978-3-319-65285-6.
External links
| Classification | |
|---|---|
| External resources |