Diagnosing Diarrhea

The doctor will ask about your symptoms and medical history. A physical exam will be done. To determine the cause of your diarrhea, the doctor will ask questions, such as:

• Does anyone else in your family have diarrhea?
• What kinds of food have you eaten recently?
• Do you drink well water?
• Do your children attend daycare?
• Have you traveled recently?
• Do you use laxatives?
• What medications do you take?
• Do you have any symptoms other than diarrhea (eg, fever, rash, aching joints)?
• What is your sexual history?
• Have you ever had abdominal surgery?

Tests may include:

• Laboratory analysis of a stool sample
• Blood tests
• Fasting or food elimination tests
• Digital rectal exam-examination of the rectum with the doctor's gloved finger inserted into your rectum
• Flexible sigmoidoscopy -a thin, lighted tube inserted into the rectum to examine the rectum and the lower colon.
• Colonoscopy -a thin, lighted tube inserted through the rectum and into the colon to examine the lining of the colon
• Biopsy -removal of a sample of colon tissue for testing. This may be performed as part of a flexible sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy
• Upper GI Series -a series of x-rays of the upper digestive system taken after drinking a barium solution (also called barium swallow)
• Barium enema -insertion of fluid into the rectum that makes the lining of your colon show up on an x-ray

Barium Enema

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