Should I Be Concerned About Black Stools After Gastroscopy And Colonoscopy?

Posted on Thu, 6 Mar 2014

Question: It is 48 hours since I had both gastroscopy and colonoscopy. Biopsies were taken from oesophagus, stomach duodenum and colon and a small sigmoid hyper plastic polyp removed. Each bowel movement since then has been black - should I be concerned? The surgeon not available until tomorrow. Otherwise feeling pretty good

Answered by Dr. Ashish Verma (20 minutes later)

Brief Answer: black stools means bleeding inside Detailed Answer: Hi, Thanks for writing to HCM. This is Dr. Ashish Verma, a general surgeon, answering to your query. Black sticky stools...called malena in medical terms...signify upper gi tract bleeding... maybe mostly from one of the biopsy sites...but as its just 48 hrs since your scopy...you may wait for a few more days...as it may take upto 5 days to clear... So, if even after 5 days you are still passing black stools...or if it get worsened....you need to revisit your doctor...till then keep your sugars strictly under control as diabetes predisposes to infection. Hope, that i have answered to all your queries. If you have further queries, i will be glad to answer them. Regards, Dr. Ashish Verma

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Yogesh D