Chronic diarrhea differential diagnosis: Difference between revisions
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*'''Functional''' (distinguished from secretory types by hypermotility, smaller volumes, and improvement at night and with fasting) | *'''Functional''' (distinguished from secretory types by hypermotility, smaller volumes, and improvement at night and with fasting) | ||
**[[Irritable bowel syndrome]] | **[[Irritable bowel syndrome]] | ||
{| class="wikitable" | |||
! rowspan="2" colspan="3" |Cause | |||
! colspan="2" |Osmotic gap | |||
! rowspan="2" |History | |||
! rowspan="2" |Physical exam | |||
! rowspan="2" |Gold standard | |||
! rowspan="2" |Treatment | |||
|- | |||
!< 50 mOsm per kg | |||
!> 125 mOsm per kg* | |||
|- | |||
| rowspan="9" |Watery | |||
| rowspan="6" |Secretory | |||
|Crohns | |||
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|abdominal pain followed by diarrhea | |||
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* [[Abdominal]] [[tenderness ]]when palpated in severe disease | |||
* Blood seen on rectal exam | |||
*[[Fever]] | |||
*[[Tachycardia]] | |||
*[[Hypotension]] | |||
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* Colonoscopy with biopsy | |||
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* Topical mucosamine and corticosteroids are prefferd | |||
* Mesalamine and sulfasalazine are used for remission | |||
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|IBS | |||
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Abdominal pain or discomfort recurring at least 3 days per month in the past 3 months and associated with 2 or more of the following: | |||
* Improves with defecation | |||
* Onset associated with change in frequency of stool | |||
* Onset associated with change in appearance of stool | |||
* 25% of bowel movements are loose stools | |||
History of straining is also common | |||
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* Abdominal tenderness | |||
* Hard stool in the rectal vault | |||
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* Clinical diagnosis | |||
** ROME III criteria | |||
** Pharmacologic studies based criteria | |||
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* High [[dietary fiber]] | |||
* Osmotic laxatives such as [[polyethylene glycol]], [[sorbitol]], and [[lactulose]] | |||
* antispasmodic drugs (e.g. [[Anticholinergic|anticholinergics]] such as [[hyoscyamine]] or [[dicyclomine]]) | |||
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|Hyperthyroidism | |||
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* [[Carbimazole]] and [[methimazole]] | |||
* Beta blockers like [[propylthiouracil]] | |||
* [[Iodine-131]] | |||
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|Microscopic colitis | |||
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|Neuroendocrine tumors | |||
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|Post surgical | |||
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| rowspan="2" |Osmotic | |||
|Carbohydrate malabsorption | |||
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|Celiac disease | |||
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|Functional | |||
|Irritable bowel syndrome | |||
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'''Fatty (bloating and steatorrhea in many, but not all cases)''' | '''Fatty (bloating and steatorrhea in many, but not all cases)''' |
Revision as of 19:20, 22 June 2017
Chronic diarrhea Microchapters |
Diagnosis |
---|
Treatment |
Case Studies |
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Omodamola Aje B.Sc, M.D. [2]
Overview
The differential diagnosis for chronic diarrhea is enormous, with a large number of diagnostic tests available that can be used to evaluate these patients. Classifying the patient with chronic diarrhea into a subcategory helps to direct the diagnostic work-up.
Differential diagnosis
It is important to differentiate chronic diarrhea based on the kind of diarrhea that is produced. Chronic diarrhea can be subdivided into three major types; watery, fatty, inflammatory. Watery chronic diarrhea can then further be sub-divided into osmotic or secretory diarrhea. Below is a list of differential diagnosis of chronic diarrhea by stool characteristics.[1][2]
Watery
- Secretory (often nocturnal; unrelated to food intake; fecal osmotic gap < 50 mOsm per kg*)
- Alcoholism
- Bacterial enterotoxins (e.g., cholera)
- Bile acid malabsorption
- Brainerd diarrhea (epidemic secretory diarrhea)
- Congenital syndromes
- Crohn disease (early ileocolitis)
- Endocrine disorders e.g., hyperthyroidism
- Medications (see causes section)
- Microscopic colitis (lymphocytic and collagenous subtypes)
- Neuroendocrine tumors (e.g., gastrinoma, vipoma, carcinoid tumors, mastocytosis)
- Nonosmotic laxatives (e.g., senna, docusate sodium)
- Postsurgical (e.g., cholecystectomy, gastrectomy, vagotomy, intestinal resection)
- Vasculitis
- Osmotic (fecal osmotic gap > 125 mOsm per kg*)
- Functional (distinguished from secretory types by hypermotility, smaller volumes, and improvement at night and with fasting)
Cause | Osmotic gap | History | Physical exam | Gold standard | Treatment | |||
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< 50 mOsm per kg | > 125 mOsm per kg* | |||||||
Watery | Secretory | Crohns | abdominal pain followed by diarrhea |
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IBS |
Abdominal pain or discomfort recurring at least 3 days per month in the past 3 months and associated with 2 or more of the following:
History of straining is also common |
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Hyperthyroidism |
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Microscopic colitis | ||||||||
Neuroendocrine tumors | ||||||||
Post surgical | ||||||||
Osmotic | Carbohydrate malabsorption | |||||||
Celiac disease | ||||||||
Functional | Irritable bowel syndrome |
Fatty (bloating and steatorrhea in many, but not all cases)
- Malabsorption syndrome (damage to or loss of absorptive ability)
- Amyloidosis
- Carbohydrate malabsorption (e.g., lactose intolerance)
- Celiac sprue (gluten enteropathy)–various clinical presentations
- Gastric bypass
- Lymphatic damage (e.g., congestive heart failure, some lymphomas)
- Medications (e.g., orlistat Xenical; inhibits fat absorption, acarbose Precose; inhibits carbohydrate absorption])
- Mesenteric ischemia
- Noninvasive small bowel parasite (e.g., Giardia)
- Postresection diarrhea
- Short bowel syndrome
- Small bowel bacterial overgrowth (> 105 bacteria per mL)
- Tropical sprue
- Whipple disease (Tropheryma whippelii infection)
- Maldigestion (loss of digestive function)
- Hepatobiliary disorders
- Inadequate luminal bile acid
- Loss of regulated gastric emptying
- Pancreatic exocrine insufficiency
Inflammatory or exudative (elevated white blood cell count, occult or frank blood or pus)
- Inflammatory bowel disease Crohn disease (ileal or early Crohn disease may be secretory)
- Diverticulitis
- Ulcerative colitis
- Ulcerative jejunoileitis
- Invasive infectious diseases
- Clostridium difficile (pseudomembranous) colitis–antibiotic history
- Invasive bacterial infections (e.g., tuberculosis, yersiniosis)
- Invasive parasitic infections (e.g., Entamoeba)–travel history
- Ulcerating viral infections (e.g., cytomegalovirus, herpes simplex virus)
- Neoplasia
- Colon carcinoma
- Lymphoma
- Villous adenocarcinoma
- Radiation colitis
References
- ↑ Fine KD, Schiller LR (1999). "AGA technical review on the evaluation and management of chronic diarrhea". Gastroenterology. 116 (6): 1464–86. PMID 10348832.
- ↑ Lacy, Brian E.; Mearin, Fermín; Chang, Lin; Chey, William D.; Lembo, Anthony J.; Simren, Magnus; Spiller, Robin (2016). "Bowel Disorders". Gastroenterology. 150 (6): 1393–1407.e5. doi:10.1053/j.gastro.2016.02.031. ISSN 0016-5085.