Blood from the Ano - Causes and Symptoms

Definition

The leakage of blood from the anus is a fairly frequent symptom, which can occur in different conditions. Usually, blood loss occurs during defecation and / or at the end of it, in the toilet bowl or directly on toilet paper.

The blood that comes from the rectal-anal tract is generally bright red and free of clots. If the blood loss is abundant, it is called proctorrhagia, while the hematochezia indicates bleeding from the anal canal and from the rectum of minimum quantity.

The blood from the anus can also be indistinguishable from a rectorrhagia (the bright red blood originates from sigma or rectum); it is distinguished, instead, from the melena (blood of dark red color, that derives from the tall parts of the digestive tract).

Associated symptoms

Blood loss from the anus may present as the only symptom or may be accompanied by other manifestations, such as itching and anal pain, which help to guide the diagnosis. In some cases, the blood can paint the faeces (ie appears on their surface) or it can be mixed with them. At other times, it may appear as an isolated drip or after washing.

This symptom may also occur in conjunction with an increase in the frequency of evacuations and may be associated with constipation, diarrhea and mucus-pus emission.

The differential diagnosis is generally made with a proctological examination supported by an endoscopic examination and / or a colonoscopy.

Possible causes

The blood from the anus can be determined by pathologies of an inflammatory nature or consequent to mechanical phenomena involving the last enteric tract.

When the blood is mixed with faeces, it means that it has time to mix with them during part of the intestinal journey. This symptom can therefore indicate the presence of pathologies located in the left colon or in the sigmoid, such as diverticula and chronic inflammatory diseases of the intestine (including ulcerative rectocolitis and Crohn's disease). Furthermore, the blood from the anus mixed with the faeces may be the indicator of benign or malignant neoplasms located in the lower part of the colon and rectum.

The presence of blood that wets the surface of the faeces (blood painting) is instead an expression of processes that affect the last stretch of the rectum and / or the anal canal. In this case, the haemorrhoidal disease is the most frequent reason. Other conditions in which this type of superficial bleeding can occur are anal fissures, ischemic colitis and neoplastic pathologies.

Dripping isolated from defecation or the appearance of minimal amounts of blood from the anus following hygiene practices can result from hemorrhoids, fissures, fistulas and, less often, from anal canal neoplasms. Blood clotting disorders can also cause proctorrhagia, such as predisposition to blood loss in other districts.

The blood from the anus can also depend on infectious phlogosis.