RECTAL BLEEDING Flashcards Preview

GASTRO-INTESTINAL MEDICINE AND HEPATOLOGY > RECTAL BLEEDING > Flashcards

Flashcards in RECTAL BLEEDING Deck (28)
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1
Q

What are the alarm symptoms of someone presenting with rectal bleeding?

A
Active blood loss
Persistent and heavy bleeding
Postural hypotension
Low blood pressure ( 100)
Pallor with cold sweaty peripheries
2
Q

What questions might be helpful when taking a history from patients with rectal bleeding?

A

Change in stool consistency
Change in bowel habit

Family history of:
colonic polyps
colon or rectal cancer
IBD

Rectal or abdominal pain
Treatment with anticoagulants or antipatelets agents
Is blood bright red and mainly on toilet paper or darker red mainly mixed with the stool

3
Q

With regard to someone who presented with rectal bleeding, what might fresh blood on the toilet paper suggest about the location of the bleeding?

A

Outlet bleeding from rectum or anus (typical presentation of haemorrhoids)

4
Q

With regard to someone who presented with rectal bleeding, what might blood mixed in with the stool suggest about the location of the bleeding?

A

Bleeding is probably more proximal than the rectum or anus

5
Q

What signs might you look for when examining a patient who presents with rectal bleeding?

A

Pallor
Abdominal masses
Abdominal tenderness
PR signs

6
Q

When performing a PR exam on someone who presents with rectal bleeding, what might you look for when inspecting the anal verge?

A

Tags
Eczema
Herpetic lesions
Fissure

7
Q

Can haemorrhoids be diagnosed on PR examination?

A

No, requires visual inspection with proctoscopy

8
Q

What imaging techniques should be used initially with a patient who presents with rectal bleeding?

A

Proctoscopy

Sigmoidoscopy

9
Q

What might a proctoscopy in someone with rectal bleeding be able to diagnose without the need of further testing?

A

Local perianal disorders
Obvious haemorrhoids
Rectal mass
Proctitis

10
Q

What might a sigmoidoscopy in someone with rectal bleeding be able to diagnose without the need of further testing?

A

Haemorrhoids
Sessile or pedunculated polyps
Obvious rectal or colon cancer
IBD (Proctitis, Crohn’s, UC, radiation proctitis)

11
Q

When would you suspect that diverticulosis was the cause of bleeding in someone who presents with blood in their stools?

A

When full colonic imaging revealed no other abnormalities or when diverticulum are actively seen to be bleeding

12
Q

If a flexible sigmoidoscopy reveals no abnormalities in a patient who presented with rectal bleeding, what criteria would need to be met in order to justify sending them home at this point?

A

Under 40
No family history of polyps or colon cancer
Rectal bleed had only occured once or twice
No alarm or risk factors
Normal Hb

13
Q

What might colonoscopy reveal that flexible sigmoidoscopy did not in a patient who presents with rectal bleeding?

A
Polyps
Cancer
Angiodysplasia
Segmental Crohn's disease
Diverticulosis (if no other abnormality explains bleeding)
14
Q

What is angiodysplasia?

A

Angiodysplasia is a small vascular malformation of the gut. It is a degenerative lesion, acquired, probably resulting from chronic and intermittent contraction of the colon that is obstructing the venous drainage of the mucosa. As time goes by the veins become more and more tortuous, while the capillaries of the mucosa are gradually dilate and precapillary sphincter becomes incompetent. Thus is formed an arteriovenous malformation characterized by a small tuft of dilated vessels.

15
Q

Where is the gut is angiodysplasia most frequently found?

A

In the caecum and ascending colon, although they can be present anywhere.

16
Q

Apart from colonoscopy, what other imaging techniques might be used to locate the source of bleeding in a patient with uncomplicated (rather than acute) rectal bleeding?

A

Barium enema
CT colography
Red cell radioisotope-labelled scanning
Selective angiography

17
Q

Why are Barium enemas and CT colographies not as good as colonoscopy?

A

They are accurate for cancer, but less sensitive for polyps and completely insensitive for vascular lesions

18
Q

What bloods tests must you always do in a patient who presents with bouts of rectal bleeding?

A

FBC - constantly looking for iron defiency anaemia

19
Q

Does small intestinal bleeding present as rectal bleeding?

A

Not normally. This would be occult bleeding. It is however an important cause of iron deficiency.

20
Q

In the acutely unwell patient with rectal bleeding, what are the possible causes of severe lower GI bleeding?

A

Diverticular bleeding is most common cause
Bleeding from carcinoma or polyp
Active colitis (including ischaemic colitis)
Brisk bleeding from angiodysplasia
Haemorrhage following polypectomy

21
Q

How do you treat someone diagnosed with angiodysplasia?

A

Inject area with 1:10,000 adrenaline
Cauterise lesion down endoscope using either argon plasma photocoagulation or other forms of thermal cautery
Possibly embolisation but threat of complications
Larger lesions will need resection

22
Q

How do you treat someone diagnosed with post-polypectomy bleeding?

A

Possible to apply endoscopic clips or ligatures
Cauterise if not possible
Inject area with 1:10,000 adrenaline

23
Q

Would a colonoscopy be done on patients who continue to bleed from their rectum in hospital?

A

No as bleeding source is unlikely to be visualised if there is a lot of blood in colon. Blood coats the lens and obscures the image.

24
Q

In someone who is continuously to bleed from their rectum in hospital, what imaging techniques might be used to try and identify the source of the bleeding?

A

Angiography

Red cell scanning

25
Q

How do you treat someone diagnosed with diverticular bleeding?

A

Inject area with 1:10,000 adrenaline

Cauterise if vessel is visible

26
Q

If acute rectal bleeding continues despite cauterisation or endo-clips and the patient is unfit for surgery, what option might you consider?

A

Angiography followed by embolisation, high risk of complications though (bowel infarction)

27
Q

For angiography to be useful in the case of a patient who is acutely bleeding from their rectum, what must the minimum flow rate be?

A

> 0.5 - 1 ml/minute

28
Q

In a patient suffering from acute rectal bleeding where the bleeding rate is less than 0.5 ml/minute and therefore angiography is no use, what imaging modality might be used to help the surgeon identify the location of the bleed?

A

Technetium labelled red cell scan - not very precise tool, provides a rough idea of the segment from which bleeding is occurring.