Sandbox:Zahir

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Zahir Ali Shaikh, MD[2]

Differentiating [Disease name] from other Diseases

[Disease name] must be differentiated from other diseases that cause [clinical feature 1], [clinical feature 2], and [clinical feature 3], such as [differential dx1], [differential dx2], and [differential dx3].

OR

[Disease name] must be differentiated from [differential dx1], [differential dx2], and [differential dx3].

OR

As [disease name] manifests in a variety of clinical forms, differentiation must be established in accordance with the particular subtype. [Subtype name 1] must be differentiated from other diseases that cause [clinical feature 1], such as [differential dx1] and [differential dx2]. In contrast, [subtype name 2] must be differentiated from other diseases that cause [clinical feature 2], such as [differential dx3] and [differential dx4].

Differentiating [disease name] from other diseases on the basis of [symptom 1], [symptom 2], and [symptom 3]

On the basis [symptom 1], [symptom 2], and [symptom 3], [disease name] must be differentiated from [disease 1], [disease 2], [disease 3], [disease 4], [disease 5], and [disease 6].

Diseases	Clinical manifestations								Diagnosis							Gold standard	Additional findings	Others
	Symptoms				Physical examination
									Lab Findings			Imaging
	Abdominal pain	Bowel habits	Blood in stool	Weight loss	General appearance	Abdominal exam	Rectal exam	Genitourinary exam	CBC	Tumor markers	Stool test	Colonoscopy	Barium enema	Ultrasound	CT scan
Rectal carcinoma	LLQ	Constipation/diarrhea	+	+	lethargy pallor confusion emaciation	tendernes hepatomegaly ascites absent bowel sounds	rectal mass rectal bleeding	NL	Anmeia	↑ CEA ↑ CA19-9	FOBT+	mass/polyp	Apple core apearance	endoscopic/trnasrectal US detects tumor extent	determine tumor stage	colonoscopy with biopsy	DRE & proctoscopy detects tumor localization & extension	↓ serum iron ↓ vit: B12 & folate
Rectal polyp	+	mucous diarrhea	+	+	NL	NL	rectal mass/polyp	NL	NL/anemia	NL	FOBT+	Polyp	N/A	Polyp	N/A	colonoscopy with biopsy	hypoproteinemia hypoalbuminemia	N/A
Anal cancer	+/-	constipation/diarrhea	+	+/-	NL	NL	lump/mass at anal opening	NL	NL/anemia	N/A	FOBT+	N/A	N/A	determines anal cancer depth into sphincter	hypoattenuated necrotic mass on contrast CT	Biopsy	PET/CT detects localization of small anal tumors <2cm	sentinal lymph node biopsy detects lymph node metastases
Hemorrhoids	+/-	fecal incontinence/mucous discharge	+	-	NL/weakness,irritability	NL	palpable perianal lump bleeding PR	NL	iron deficiency anemia	N/A	blood on stool outer surface	done if colorectal cancer suspected	N/A	N/A	N/A	DRE + anoscopy	anoscopy shows bulging purplish hue veins or dark, pink, glistening mass	None
Rectal intususception
Foreign body	Anorectal pain and abdominal pain	Constipation	+	-	Anxious Fever Tachycardia Hypotension	Palpable foreign body Generalized abdominal pain Absent bowel sounds Rigidity Signs of peritonitis	Bleeding per rectum Laceration Mucosal tear Sphincter disruption	NL	Leucocytosis Metabolic acidosis	NL	FOBT+	Foreign body	Contraindicated	Foreign body	Foreign body	Plain radiographs show presence of foreign body	NL	NL
Diseases	Abdominal pain	Bowel habits	Blood in stool	Weight loss	General appearance	Abdominal exam	Rectal exam	Genitourinary exam	CBC	Tumor markers	Stool test	Colonoscopy	Barium enema	Ultrasound	CT scan	Others	Gold standard	Additional findings
Prostate cancer
Fecal impaction
Anal stenosis
Hypertrophied anal papillae
Endometriosis
Uterine malignancy
Diseases	Abdominal pain	Bowel habits	Blood in stool	Weight loss	General appearance	Abdominal exam	Rectal exam	Genitourinary exam	CBC	Tumor markers	Stool test	Colonoscopy	Barium enema	Ultrasound	CT scan	Others	Gold standard	Additional findings
Cervical malignancy
Metastases
Pelvic abscess
Pelvic sarcoma
Parasacral neurogenic tumor