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causes of bloody diarrhea and bright red blood in stool may include both benign causes and more serious underlying malignancy or cancer. Fortunately only 1% of all blood in stool are due to malignancy so, whilst unlikely, it is important to get it investigated.
Infections:
Campylobacter jejuni, Salmonella enteritidis, E-coli, Shigella.
Inflammatory:
Ulcerative colitis, Crohns disease, Indeterminate colitis,
Diverticulitis
Less common causes include:
Ischaemic colitis (poor gut blood supply)
Colon Cancer
Drug induced - Sometimes seen with Warfarin, NSAID's
Vomiting and bloody diarrhea can occur together and is usually a sign of infective diarrhea. There are of course other reasons for vomiting and bloody diarrhea, so if the diarrhea continues, or if bright red blood in stool doesn't settle, then it should be investigated further, due to the potential of more serious underlying causes as indicated above (particularly in people of 55 years and over). These investigations should include blood tests, stool culture +/- colonic investigations with colonoscopy , flexible sigmoidoscopy , CT colonography or Barium Enema . Click on the links to find out more information about these tests.
Treatment of the causes of bloody diarrhea depends on the underlying disorder. Doctors always investigate diarrhea with bloody stool as it is not a symptom of
IBS or the Irritable Bowel Syndrome
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