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What Causes Blood In Frequent Green Stools In 16 Month Old?
Question: My 16-month-old daughter has had bloody diapers for several months. I've taken her to the after hours clinic, where they said it looked like a small tear. The doctor there said to give her liquid Colace and to follow up with our regular pediatrician at her 15 month appointment, which was a couple of weeks later. He said the same thing--"It looks like she has a healing tear"--but told us she could take Miralax instead (she could not choke down the Colace). We've had her on Miralax for a while and we are trying to regulate the dosage to "one soft stool a day." Well, she's still bleeding, and it seems to me like it is way too much for a tear. When my son would have a tear from constipation, he would have small streaks of blood in his diaper. With my daughter's diapers, it looks like someone poured blood in it. It happens even when her stools are loose--not just when they are hard. I've called our pediatrician's office and I'm waiting for a call back, but I could tell on the phone that the nurse already just thinks it's an anal fissure. Is it normal for there to be a great deal of blood from an anal fissure?
Brief Answer:
Normal amount of blood lost during anal fissure...
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
I have gone through the reports you uploaded and noticed a large amount of blood together with greenish stool.
The blood is caused by laceration (fissure) of the anus while passing hard stool (due to constipation). The greenish stool might be related to her diet (green leaves) and/or passing the stool too often (due to stool softener effect).
Usually, anal fissure will get healed by its own, especially if you get constipation properly treated.
It depends on the severity of the fissure to cause such great deal of blood.
I advise to:
- give your daughter plenty of water
- avoid foods causing constipation
- help her fissure/hemorrhoids get healed through Sitz bath
- give her foods high in fiber
- Can discuss with her pediatrician to start laxatives beside taking Miralax (stool softener)
At last, as she is losing too much blood, I also suggest to discuss with her pediatrician to start anti-anemic therapy until improvement (ferrous and folic acid supplementation).
Hope it was of help!
Dr.Sejdini
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Yogesh D
Answered by
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