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What Causes Blood Spots In Stool Of A Child?
My seven year old son has minor spots of blood in his stool? My wife took him last week to the doctor they say they found he has stool backed up in his stomach, after which they prescribed Polyethylene Glycol in powder form and gentle laxative in tablet form. He s been taking these meds for a few days now and has been obviously pooping a bit more frequent but my concern is the blood spotting still remains sometime more than others tho? HELP
Tue, 8 Jan 2019
Hi,
Your concern is natural as GI bleeding is something that should not be ignored specifically in kids.
First of all check for any food that may be causing the red colored stools.
• Certain foods (such as tomatoes or beets)
• Certain drinks (such as red Kool-Aid)
• Certain medicines (such as amoxicillin or omnicef).
If not, there can be several reasons for it that need to be ruled out to administer specific treatment. If there is fresh blood then the pathology is in the lower intestinal tract and if the blood is tarry black in color, then the pathology is in the upper GI tract.
First of all you should start with simpler tests. The stools can be tested for infection by a bacteria, virus, or parasite, by sending a specimen to the lab for testing.
Another step should be gastroscopy/colonoscopy investigations to rule out any ulcer/polyp/diverticulae etc. and accompanying blood examination to check for any hematological pathology.
It is always advisable to check for the core reason for blood in stools and never ignore it.
Hope I have answered your queries. Let me know if I can assist you further.
Take care
Regards,
Dr Maninder, General & Family Physician
Your concern is natural as GI bleeding is something that should not be ignored specifically in kids.
First of all check for any food that may be causing the red colored stools.
• Certain foods (such as tomatoes or beets)
• Certain drinks (such as red Kool-Aid)
• Certain medicines (such as amoxicillin or omnicef).
If not, there can be several reasons for it that need to be ruled out to administer specific treatment. If there is fresh blood then the pathology is in the lower intestinal tract and if the blood is tarry black in color, then the pathology is in the upper GI tract.
First of all you should start with simpler tests. The stools can be tested for infection by a bacteria, virus, or parasite, by sending a specimen to the lab for testing.
Another step should be gastroscopy/colonoscopy investigations to rule out any ulcer/polyp/diverticulae etc. and accompanying blood examination to check for any hematological pathology.
It is always advisable to check for the core reason for blood in stools and never ignore it.
Hope I have answered your queries. Let me know if I can assist you further.
Take care
Regards,
Dr Maninder, General & Family Physician
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