Diarrhoea 2 Flashcards
What signs do you look for on examination with diarrhoea?
- Clubbing
- Iritis? Episcleritis? Scleritis
- Mouth ulcers
- Eryhema nodusm
- Dermatitis herpetiformis
- Virchow’s lympahdenopathy
- Abdominal Msas
- Anal ulcers or fistulae
- DRE
What would clubbing and diarrhoea suggest?
- Crohn’s disease
- UC
- hyperthryoidism
- coeliac disease (unlikely)
What would Iritis (anterior uveitis), Episcleritis, Scleritis with diarrhoea suggest?
UC and Crohn’s
What would mouth ulcers and diarrhoea suggest?
Crohn’s produces ulcers anywhere GI tract mouth to anus
What would erythema nodusum and diarrhoea suggest?
- Crohn’s and UC
2. COCP can also cause this in young women
What would dermatitis herpetiformis and diarrhoea suggest?
scalp and on extensor surfaces of limbs very itchy signs of coeliac disease
What would Virchow’s lymphaednopathy suggest with diarrhoea?
bowel malignancy that has spread
What would mass in RLQ with diarrhoea suggest?
Crohn’s (due to inflammation of terminal ileum)
What would mass elsewhere esp LLQ with diarrhoea suggest?
malignancy
What would anal ulcers and fistulae with diarrhoea suggest?
Crohn’s (patient may be unaware of these so inspect)
Why do you peform a DRE with diarrhoea?
- causes of obstruction for overflow diarrhoea esp malignant recta carcinoma
- check if feaces is mucoid or bloody
What blood tests should you do for diarrhoea?
- FBC
- ESR
- CRP
- TTG and IgA levels
- TFTs
- U+Es
- Albumin
- Capillary glucose
What would anaemia on FBC with diarrhoea suggest?
- coeliac disease
- UC
- Crohn’s
When is ESR elevated?
UC and Crohn’s
When is CRP elevated?
UC, Crohn’s, infectious diarrhoea
Why do you carry out a TTG?
positive result has sensitivity and specificity of over 90% for coeliac disease
Why do you measure IgA?
- IgA can cause false negative for TTG if deficient
2. Antigliadin antibodies can also be used instead of TTG but they are less specific and sensitive