Bloody Diarrhea Case Summary

An 18 year old Caucasian male presents to your clinic with complaints of abdominal pain and bloody stools. The patient states that his bowel movements have increased in the last few months and that he was experiencing diarrhea.. He decided to come in when the pain and bloody diarrhea started. When asking about the abdominal pain, the patient describes the pain as severe cramping. The patient states that he has had a few accidents because he is unable to make it to the bathroom in time. He states that he feels an urgency to have bowel movements and that when he goes it is diarrhea. When asking about family history he states that his grandfather had “some stomach issues” and was frequently in the hospital getting medication. Based on this information what is your diagnosis? Is there a genetic link to this diagnosis? What tests should be run? What medications or treatments would you recommend?

In UC, the colonic mucosa will undergo recurrent inflammation (Meier & Sturm, 2011). Inflammation occurs in the distal to proximal colon segments (Meier & Sturm, 2011). The clinical feature of UC is the presence of bloody diarrhea (Danese & Fiocchi, 2011). Mucous may or may not be present in the diarrhea (Danese & Fiocchi, 2011). Patients with UC usually present with an urgency to evacuate the bowels, bleeding from the rectum, diarrhea, and abdominal pain (Ford, Moayyedi, & Hanauer, 2013). Worldwide it is estimated that approximately 500 people per 100000 are affected by UC (Ford et al.,