After the test, you may be bloated or have gas pains. You may need to pass gas. If a biopsy was done or a polyp was removed, you may have streaks of blood in your stool (feces) for a few days. Problems such as heavy rectal bleeding may not occur until several weeks after the test.
Post-Colonoscopy Complications
Call your doctor right away if you have any of these symptoms after your test: Severe pain or cramping in your belly. A hard belly. Trouble passing gas or pooping.
Complications related to colonoscopy include, but are not limited to, the following: Continued bleeding after biopsy (tissue sample) or polyp removal. Nausea, vomiting, bloating or rectal irritation caused by the procedure or by the preparatory bowel cleansing.
You might not have a bowel movement for a couple days after the procedure. When you do have your first bowel movement, you may notice a bit of blood. This is likely normal and isn't cause for concern.
The First Week after a Colonoscopy
After polyps are removed it can take up to a week for the patient to fully recover. During this time, patients should avoid all strenuous activities, which includes lifting anything over five pounds.
Perforation. The patient may present directly from the endoscopy suite, but more often there is an interval lasting from several hours to days. Typically, the patient complains of abdominal pain and distension, and objective findings may include leukocytosis and fever.
Colonic perforation during colonoscopy may result from mechanical forces against the bowel wall, baro- trauma, or as a direct result of therapeutic procedures. Early symptoms of perforation include persistent abdom- inal pain and abdominal distention. Later, patients may develop peritonitis.
Often, patients will not know they have a perforated bowel until symptoms are sever. Early signs of sepsis are: Body temperature above 101 F (38.3 C) or below 96.8 F (36 C)
The signs and symptoms of a perforated GI tract come on gradually, getting worse, although they might not be too noticeable at first. They may include: Severe stomach pain. Chills.
CT of the abdomen and pelvis, however, is the most sensitive and specific test to diagnose a perforation and ascertain the most likely etiology. [18] Disease processes such as diverticulitis, appendicitis, and bowel obstructions can be readily identified on CT.
Signs and symptoms can include refusal to feed, vomiting, and decreased activity. The most common presenting manifestation is a sudden onset of abdominal distension and pain; less common presenting symptoms are ileus, respiratory distress, fever, emesis, hematemesis, or hematochezia.
Carefully palpate the entire abdomen, noting any masses or tenderness. Tachycardia, fever, and generalized abdominal tenderness may suggest peritonitis. Abdominal fullness and doughy consistency may indicate intra-abdominal hemorrhage. Tenderness on percussion may suggest peritoneal inflammation.
The treatment will depend on the size of the tear. If it is very minor, then a doctor might only prescribe antibiotics and encourage the patient not to eat or drink for a while. Your doctor then watches the perforation to make sure it heals. However, more serious tears will require surgery.
The gastric antrum and duodenal bulb are the most common perforation sites in ulcerative disease [2, 3, 31].
The primary symptoms of gastrointestinal perforation are severe abdominal pain and tenderness. The abdomen may also protrude or feel hard to the touch. If the hole is in a person's stomach or small intestine, the onset of pain is usually sudden, but if the hole is in the large bowel, the pain may come on gradually.
Abdominal CT scans may help your doctor check where the gastrointestinal perforation is. Endoscopy or colonoscopy. Procedures like upper endoscopy may also help to locate the gastrointestinal perforation.
You can have a hole in your colon that happens by itself. This spontaneous type of perforation is usually due to a medical condition, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Perforated bowels also can be caused by a medical procedure that's done in or near your digestive tract.
An intestinal perforation is a major life-threatening condition with high morbidity and mortality that requires emergency surgery. Despite improvements in surgical and medical treatments, the overall mortality rate is 30% and the mortality rate of cases that also have diffuse peritonitis is up to 70% [1,2,3,4].
This approach involves intravenous fluids, absolute bowel rest and intravenous administration of broad-spectrum antibiotics. If the conservative treatment is successful, patient's clinical appearance should improve gradually within 24-48 h.
If you have a gastrointestinal or bowel perforation, you may experience: Abdominal pain or cramping, which is usually severe. Bloating or a swollen abdomen. Fever or chills.
Diverticulitis stool characteristics
Color: The stool may be bright red, maroon, or black and tarry, which indicates the presence of blood. Stools may contain more mucus than normal. Odor: The stool odor may be increasingly foul compared to the typical smell.
In addition to determining the presence of perforation, CT can also localize the perforation site. The overall accuracy of CT for predicting the site of bowel perforation has been reported to range between 82% and 90% (3, 10, 11).
It usually takes at least six weeks to start feeling that you're back to normal after bowel surgery. You should avoid heavy lifting and strenuous exercise for longer than this though. You might continue to have some pain and discomfort from your surgery for a while.
Intestinal perforation can present acutely or in an indolent manner (eg, abscess or intestinal fistula formation). A confirmatory diagnosis is made primarily using abdominal imaging studies, but on occasion, exploration of the abdomen (open or laparoscopic) may be needed to make a diagnosis.