5- bowel habit investigations

Question 1

what is dysentery?

Answer 1

bloody diarrhoea

Question 2

what are mechanisms of diarrhoea?

Answer 2

• secretory (in infectious diarrhoea like cholera)
• osmotic (happens when use laxatives like before colonoscopy etc)
• inflammatory (when gut inflamed in colitis etc)
• altered motility (in things like IBS causing increased frequency)

Question 3

for a history of diarrhoea what would be first line investigation?

Answer 3

bloods & stool test
(colonoscopy further down line as just in case infectious you don’t want infectious faeces everywhere)

Question 4

if suspected IBS - what is most important test to do?

Answer 4

FIT test = to rule out anything sinister and reassure patient not missing anything

• can also do bloods & coeliac immunology but FIT test is most important

Question 5

what are 3 types of IBS?

Answer 5

• diarrhoea, constipation, mixed

Question 6

what is generally treatment of IBS?

Answer 6

• reduce dietary wheat, fibre
• antispasmodics
• antidiarrhoeal
• low dose tricyclic anti-depressants

Question 7

what are some differences in symptoms with coeliac & crohn’s?

Answer 7

coeliac →can have mouth ulcers, abdominal pain & dermatitis herpetiformis rash (similar to crohns but crohn’s has different rash and probs more severe symptoms)