Rectal Bleeding or Blood in Stool

Rectal bleeding can refer to:

• Lower gastrointestinal bleeding
• Hematochezia
• Fecal occult blood
• Melena

Blood in stool

In medicine, when referring to human feces, Blood in stool can refer to multiple conditions:

• Melena, with more blackish appearance, originating in upper parts of the GI tract
• Hematochezia, with more red color, originating in latter parts of the GI tract

The term is usually not used to describe fecal occult blood, which refers to blood only found after testing is performed.

In infants, the Apt test can be used to distinguish Fetal hemoglobin from maternal blood.

List of causes of blood in the stool

Common causes of blood in the stool include:

• Colorectal cancer
• Crohns disease
• Ulcerative colitis
• Hemorrhoids
• E coli food poisoning
• Necrotizing enterocolitis
• Diverticulosis
• Salmonellosis
• Upper gastrointestinal bleeding
• Peptic ulcer disease
• Esophageal varices
• Gastric cancer