THE ROLE OF ROUTINE STOOL EXAMINATION IN THE MANAGEMENT OF PATIENTS PRESENTING WITH CHRONIC LOWER ABDOMINAL PAIN OF GASTROINTESTINAL ORIGIN

Renisha Nandkumar Redij, Nilay Chakrabarti

Abstract


A prospective case series study was conducted over two months with 60 subjects at a tertiary hospital to assess the role of routine stool examination in the management of patients presenting with chronic lower abdominal pain of gastrointestinal origin. The objective was to assess stool examination as a diagnostic tool as well as to research and promote preventive hygiene measures.

Method-  Data was collected and analyzed with demographic data tabulated under the headings of age, gender, socioeconomic status, type of work, dietary habits, food washing habits before cooking, type of drinking water, handwashing habits before eating and toilet usage and whether there was a toilet at home. Clinical data was noted as type of pain, history of any previous infection, ova/cyst/ trophozoites found in stool samples, diarrhea, anemia and presence of stool occult blood.

Results-  Intestinal parasites were detected in 18.3% stool samples. 18.3% did not wash their food before cooking while 41.7% consumed unfiltered tap water as drinking water, 61.7% did not have toilet facilities at home and 58.3% did not wash their hands before eating. Results were statistically significant.


Keywords


Stool examination , Chronic lower abdominal pain

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