Thickening of the rectal wall

[corky13]

Hello. I have been having pain off and on in my back above my right buttock for about three months. I have also had rather loose bowel movements (this has been going on for a couple of years) and most recently I have had a couple bouts of slight constipation. I have also noticed mucous in my stool. I recently had a abdominal/pelvic (with and without contrast) done and the results were as follows:
Impression:
1. Thickening of the rectal wall, nonspecific in appearance. The possibility of proctits must be considered. Direct examination may be appropriate.
2. Some free fluid in the pelvis

I had a sigmoidoscopy last Sept.(07). Could this have developed since then? What else could the thickening represent? Considering I had the sigmoid last year, do you think this could be cancer?
I have an appointment with my GI doctor next week. I had the report faxed to him. I was just hoping to get some feedback prior to the appointment. Thank you.

[corky13]

So, cancer can develop that quickly. My scan last year did not find anything, all was clear. I thought that colon cancer was slow growing and that is why screening with a scope was set at every 5 years (sigmoid). Could this rectal wall thickening have anything to do with my back pain?

[PaulMD]

Hi there.

Thickening of the rectal walls can indicate several pathologies (that's why it was read as non-specific) including infections, inflammatory bowel diseases, benign tumors, or even malignant growths.  Infections in this part of the intestine can include amebic colitis which can be treated easily.  IBD's or inflammatory bowel diseases such as crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis can also present with this thickening.  Malignancy or cancer can also present this way.

As was suggested by the scan, visualization may be warranted in the form of another sigmoidoscopy (yes, this could have developed in a span of a year) and to have the area sampled with a biopsy if necessary.

Regards