A stool occult blood test, also known as a stool occult blood test, is a test that evaluates the presence of small amounts of blood in the stool that may not be visible to the naked eye and is therefore used to detect existence. small bleeding in the digestive tract that may indicate ulcers, colitis or even bowel cancer.
Your doctor usually requests a stool occult blood test to investigate the onset of bowel cancer, especially in people with a family history, to look for the cause of anemia, or to help diagnose inflammatory changes in the intestine, such as a disease. Crohn’s disease and colitis, for example.
- To perform the stool occult blood test it is important for the person to follow certain recommendations from the doctor during the collection period.
- Which is usually 3 days.
- As certain factors may interfere with the outcome.
- Therefore.
- It is recommended to:.
If fecal matter is collected in one of these situations, it is important to inform the laboratory to be taken into account when analyzing the result. However, in most cases, it may be necessary to repeat the test to confirm the result.
The stool occult blood test is considered a screening test, identifying the presence or absence of inflammatory bowel diseases without having to perform more expensive and invasive procedures.
Despite this, the diagnosis of the disease should not be based solely on the result of the occult blood test, despite high sensitivity, and a colonoscopy, which is considered the “gold standard” test for the diagnosis of inflammatory diseases, should be recommended. intestinal infections, including colorectal cancer. Understand how colonoscopy is performed.
Watch the video below how to recover your stool for the exam
Possible results of occult blood tests in the stool are:
For a positive or negative result with some modifications, your doctor may order a new test to confirm the result or perform a colonoscopy based on the person’s medical history.
False positives are those in which the test detects the presence of blood, but does not represent the patient’s condition. This type of result can occur in people who are not adequately prepared for food, have had nosebleeds or gums, have used medications that cause gastric lining irritation, or have been sampled a few days after their period.
In some cases of negative results, your doctor may still order a colonoscopy if the patient is at high risk of developing colon cancer to make sure there are no changes, as although it is rare, there may be cancer without bleeding.
See other problems that can cause stool changes
The presence of blood in the stool is usually a sign of intestinal changes, the main being:
Thus, in order to identify the correct cause of blood in the stool, it is common that after the occult blood test, the doctor orders a colonoscopy or endoscopy, especially when the bleeding is not caused by hemorrhoids. These two tests consist of the introduction of a thin tube with a small chamber at the tip, which allows to observe the inside of the intestine and stomach to identify possible lesions, facilitating diagnosis.
Learn more about the leading causes of blood in your stool.