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What Causes Abdominal Pain, Nausea And Diarrhea?

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Posted on Mon, 12 Jun 2017
Question: I have had 2 recent bouts of ischemic colitis for which I was hospitalized with bloody stools. After testing it was determined that I do not have inflammatory bowel disease and was told that the ischemic episodes should not reoccur. So today have had severe abdominal pain, nausea and explosive diarrhea. As the symptoms progressed I now have bloody stools. My question is, is it necessary to be hospitalized again? Are the bloody stools considered an emergency if i have already had all the diagnostic checks in the past couple months? Can I just stay home and talk to my doctor tomorrow? Thank you for your time!
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Answered by Dr. Ramesh Kumar (5 hours later)
Brief Answer:
Yes you can consult your gastroenterologist tomorrow.

Detailed Answer:
Hi Dear,
Thanks forchoosing HealthcareMagic for your query.
I am a Gastroenterologist and would be addressing your query.

Before comming to answer let me give you a small briefing about your problem.This will help you understand much better about your condition and my answers.

Word ischemia means lack of blod supply to a particular area while colitis means inflammation of intestines.Ischemic colitis is a medical condition in which inflammation and injury of the large intestine result from inadequate blood supply.It is a comon problem in elderly.
The cause of ischemia is atherosclerosis. It is a specific form of arteriosclerosis in which an artery wall thickens due to depositio of calcium and fat leading to decreased blood suplly to that particular area causing severe pain and symptoms of ischemia.
Pain tenderness or cramping in abdomen with blood in stool at times is common feature of this problem.
A CT or MRI angiography should be done to rule out the site of blockage of mesenteric artery.
See your doctor told you that ischemic episodes wont reccur but see you are a diagnosed case of ischemic colitis this clearly means that there is a blockage in some of the mesenteric blood vessels.So unless we find out the site of blockage or bypass that blocked artery with grafted artery these episodes would reccur again and again.

In lay mans language.Suppose if the pipe draining your kitchen is blocked then you have to either remove the dirt inside it or have to use another pipe bypassing it otherwise backflow of water would occur again and again.This is a example to explain you things.

Now lets come to your question.
See all the symptoms you are having including bloody stools is a normal feature of [patient with ischemic colitis.So i don't think you need to go to emergency room immediately unless bleed contain more then 200ml blood.Just keep yourself hydrated and take lots of electrolyte.

I want to know what investigations had been done on you kindly message with follow up all investigation done on you like CT or MRIangiogram and their reports.

Yes you can talk to you gastroenterologist tomorrow ask him whats his plan.
As there is ischemia either of the two things should be done-
1)Bypass a blockage in an intestinal artery-Suppose if there is a jam of vehicles on main road then we use to divert our cars to small roads (bypass) in the same way when main vessel supplying colon is blocked we have to graft a bypass vessel to maintain adequate blood supply to ischemic area.
2)Remove part of the colon that has narrowed because of scarring and is causing a blockage.

However any further suggestion depends on report of CT or MRI angiogram kindly enclose the reports with follow up.
Hope i explained your query well.

Thanks.

Note: For further follow up on digestive issues share your reports here and Click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Nagamani Ng
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Answered by
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Dr. Ramesh Kumar

Gastroenterologist

Practicing since :1986

Answered : 2914 Questions

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What Causes Abdominal Pain, Nausea And Diarrhea?

Brief Answer: Yes you can consult your gastroenterologist tomorrow. Detailed Answer: Hi Dear, Thanks forchoosing HealthcareMagic for your query. I am a Gastroenterologist and would be addressing your query. Before comming to answer let me give you a small briefing about your problem.This will help you understand much better about your condition and my answers. Word ischemia means lack of blod supply to a particular area while colitis means inflammation of intestines.Ischemic colitis is a medical condition in which inflammation and injury of the large intestine result from inadequate blood supply.It is a comon problem in elderly. The cause of ischemia is atherosclerosis. It is a specific form of arteriosclerosis in which an artery wall thickens due to depositio of calcium and fat leading to decreased blood suplly to that particular area causing severe pain and symptoms of ischemia. Pain tenderness or cramping in abdomen with blood in stool at times is common feature of this problem. A CT or MRI angiography should be done to rule out the site of blockage of mesenteric artery. See your doctor told you that ischemic episodes wont reccur but see you are a diagnosed case of ischemic colitis this clearly means that there is a blockage in some of the mesenteric blood vessels.So unless we find out the site of blockage or bypass that blocked artery with grafted artery these episodes would reccur again and again. In lay mans language.Suppose if the pipe draining your kitchen is blocked then you have to either remove the dirt inside it or have to use another pipe bypassing it otherwise backflow of water would occur again and again.This is a example to explain you things. Now lets come to your question. See all the symptoms you are having including bloody stools is a normal feature of [patient with ischemic colitis.So i don't think you need to go to emergency room immediately unless bleed contain more then 200ml blood.Just keep yourself hydrated and take lots of electrolyte. I want to know what investigations had been done on you kindly message with follow up all investigation done on you like CT or MRIangiogram and their reports. Yes you can talk to you gastroenterologist tomorrow ask him whats his plan. As there is ischemia either of the two things should be done- 1)Bypass a blockage in an intestinal artery-Suppose if there is a jam of vehicles on main road then we use to divert our cars to small roads (bypass) in the same way when main vessel supplying colon is blocked we have to graft a bypass vessel to maintain adequate blood supply to ischemic area. 2)Remove part of the colon that has narrowed because of scarring and is causing a blockage. However any further suggestion depends on report of CT or MRI angiogram kindly enclose the reports with follow up. Hope i explained your query well. Thanks.