Which features are typical of large bowel diarrhea?

Which features are typical of large bowel diarrhea?

• A. Tenesmus, urgency, mucus, hematochezia, frequent small stools
• B. Large volume with melena
• C. Weight loss and vomiting
• D. Steatorrhea

Answer: (A)

Large bowel diarrhea reflects colonic involvement, where water absorption is disrupted and the mucosa often becomes irritated. This leads to symptoms driven by rectal urgency and local irritation: a frequent need to defecate with small, frequent stools, often with mucus mixed in. Blood is common because the colonic mucosa is prone to friability, producing hematochezia that is typically bright red. The other patterns don’t fit the colon: large-volume stools with melena suggest upper GI or proximal small bowel bleeding; weight loss and vomiting point toward systemic or small intestinal disease; steatorrhea indicates fat malabsorption in the small intestine or pancreas. So the combination of tenesmus, urgency, mucus, hematochezia, and frequent small stools is characteristic of large bowel diarrhea.

Large bowel diarrhea reflects colonic involvement, where water absorption is disrupted and the mucosa often becomes irritated. This leads to symptoms driven by rectal urgency and local irritation: a frequent need to defecate with small, frequent stools, often with mucus mixed in. Blood is common because the colonic mucosa is prone to friability, producing hematochezia that is typically bright red. The other patterns don’t fit the colon: large-volume stools with melena suggest upper GI or proximal small bowel bleeding; weight loss and vomiting point toward systemic or small intestinal disease; steatorrhea indicates fat malabsorption in the small intestine or pancreas. So the combination of tenesmus, urgency, mucus, hematochezia, and frequent small stools is characteristic of large bowel diarrhea.