bloody diarrhea; inflammatory diarrhea

Etiology

• enterohemorrhagic E coli (Shiga toxin-producing E coli) is the most common cause of bloody diarrhea in the U.S.
• Shigella
• Campylobacter jejuni (diarrhea generally not bloody)
• Vibrio parahaemolyticus
• Clostridium difficile
• amebiasis (Entamoeba histolytica)
• intestinal ischemia
• inflammatory bowel disease
  • Crohn's disease
  • ulcerative colitis
• colchicine toxicity
• blood in stool may be observed with traveler's diarrhea

Laboratory

• shiga toxin gene, immunoassay for shiga toxin

Management

• if fever & other symptoms of dysentery, empiric antibiotics indicated*

* antibiotics may worsen outcome of Shiga-toxin producting E coli

Notes

Also see:

• bloody versus non-bloody diarrhea
• infectious diarrhea
• traveler's diarrhea if travel related

More general terms

• diarrhea

More specific terms

• dysentery

Additional terms

• bloody (inflammatory) versus non-bloody (non-inflammatory) diarrhea
• infectious diarrhea; infectious colitis