Blood(?) on the toiler paper, visit to a proctologist

[Kloto]

Hello,

Four months ago I noticed a very very tiny amount of somewhat reddish on the toilet paper. Straight away I went to a proctologist and did proctoscopy. It was all right and I was diagnosed with anal fissure. Now, in four months this thing happened: I went to defecate, there was no blood in the stool, but I saw a big amount of something deep red (like wine colour) on the paper. Next day the situation repeated. I also notice some mucus in the stool (or maybe it just seems to me so). I went to a proctologist. He did anoscopy and told me that it might be my anal fissure, though by that time it had almost healed already. I asked if it can be something in the colon. He said, that it is better to perform colonoscopy. Do you think it is a good recommendation or is it not a right prescription in my case?  Thank you.

[Kloto]

Dear Doctor,

How is it possible to perform US of the colon?

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
If the bloody stool is bright red, then it could be due to hemorrhoids or anal fissures. The causes of bloody stool that is more maroon in color is intestinal polyps, inflammatory bowel disease or diverticulosis (diverticulosis causes significant bleeding)
Other causes of blood in stools are, aspirin or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications and, polyps (small growths) and cancerous tumors (malignant growths of tissue).
Diagnosis is by ultrasound abdomen. In some cases sigmoidoscopy and colonoscopy may be needed.
It is very difficult to precisely confirm a diagnosis without examination and investigations and the answer is based on the medical information provided. For exact diagnosis, you are requested to consult your doctor. I sincerely hope that helps. Take care and please do keep me posted on how you are doing.