Article by Jelie Osorio

Medically speaking, rectal bleeding is referred to as “hematochezia”. The term pertains to the passage of red blood coming from the anus which is often mixed with blood clots and/or stools. Its severity can vary as most episodes can be mild and would stop on their own. If this is the case, it can be treated by the doctor without any need for hospitalization or urgent treatment. Though, if the bleeding is severe, this can deplete a large quantity of blood from the patient – leading to symptoms like:

. Dizziness. Weakness. Fainting or near-fainting. Orthostatic hypotension or low blood pressure. Shock (due to the loss of blood)

For moderate to severe rectal bleeding, evaluation and treatment in a hospital environment may be warranted. When the patient is diagnosed with a reduced volume of blood, emergency hospitalization as well as blood transfusion may be requested by the attending physician.

Where is all the blood coming from?

It is noted that blood that results to rectal bleeding are from the rectum, anus or colon. Depending on the location of the bleeding, there are different colors of blood you may see. Technically, the brighter red the blood is, this would mean that the bleeding is closer to the anus. Due to this, bleeding that comes from the rectum, anus as well as the sigmoid colon would feature a sharp red appearance. On the contrary, if bleeding comes from the right colon or oblique colon, it would be maroon or dark red in color.

There are also cases where patients will have a black or “tarry” colored bleeding. It may also be foul smelling and sticky. This is referred to as “melena”. This happens if the bleeding comes from the stomach where blood would be exposed to acid. It can also come from the colon or small intestine if it as stayed there for a long time that intestinal bacteria has by now acted on it and broken it down to chemicals. This means, bleeding is by now coming from the high gastrointestinal tract.

There is also another type of rectal bleeding. This is known as occult gastrointestinal bleeding. It pertains to a slow loss of blood in the lower or high gastrointestinal tract. For this case, the color of the stool shows no apparent change. Blood is still in visible sharp red color. It causes are somehow akin to that of rectal bleeding. Even the symptoms are akin to it. It can only be detected through fecal occult blood testing where the stool is tested for blood. This condition may be associated with anemia as it can be due to a lack in iron in the blood.

What are the possible causes of rectal bleeding?

There are really a lot. The common causes are:

. Hemorrhoids. Anal fissures. Diverticulosis. Polyps and cancers of the colon as well as the rectum. Ulcerative colitis. Abnormal blood vessels or angiodysplasia. Crohn’s colitis. Ulcerative proctitis. Ischemic colitis. Infectious colitis. Meckel’s diverticula