The Case of the Lime-green Stool: A Case Report and Review of Occult Blood Testing in the Emergency Department

INTRODUCTION: Food dyes mimicking gastrointestinal (GI) hemorrhage have been described in literature. However, reports of food additives causing melanotic stools and falsely positive fecal occult blood tests (FOBT) are uncommon in literature. CASE REPORT: We present a case of a 93-year-old with FOBT...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Salisbury, James D., Goodrich, Jennifer G., McManus, Nicholas M., Offman, Ryan P.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: University of California Irvine, Department of Emergency Medicine publishing Western Journal of Emergency Medicine 2021
Materias:
Case Report
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8373194/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34437038
http://dx.doi.org/10.5811/cpcem.2021.4.51656
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author Salisbury, James D.
Goodrich, Jennifer G.
McManus, Nicholas M.
Offman, Ryan P.
author_facet Salisbury, James D.
Goodrich, Jennifer G.
McManus, Nicholas M.
Offman, Ryan P.
author_sort Salisbury, James D.
collection PubMed
description INTRODUCTION: Food dyes mimicking gastrointestinal (GI) hemorrhage have been described in literature. However, reports of food additives causing melanotic stools and falsely positive fecal occult blood tests (FOBT) are uncommon in literature. CASE REPORT: We present a case of a 93-year-old with FOBT positive melanotic stool, felt to be falsely positive due to food additives. CONCLUSION: Evaluation for GI bleeding accounts for 0.3% of yearly visits to the emergency department (ED).1 While FOBT is commonly used, its clinical validity in the ED is not supported by guidelines. We showcase the limitations of the FOBT and review the causes of false positive FOBT.
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spelling pubmed-83731942021-08-24 The Case of the Lime-green Stool: A Case Report and Review of Occult Blood Testing in the Emergency Department Salisbury, James D. Goodrich, Jennifer G. McManus, Nicholas M. Offman, Ryan P. Clin Pract Cases Emerg Med Case Report INTRODUCTION: Food dyes mimicking gastrointestinal (GI) hemorrhage have been described in literature. However, reports of food additives causing melanotic stools and falsely positive fecal occult blood tests (FOBT) are uncommon in literature. CASE REPORT: We present a case of a 93-year-old with FOBT positive melanotic stool, felt to be falsely positive due to food additives. CONCLUSION: Evaluation for GI bleeding accounts for 0.3% of yearly visits to the emergency department (ED).1 While FOBT is commonly used, its clinical validity in the ED is not supported by guidelines. We showcase the limitations of the FOBT and review the causes of false positive FOBT. University of California Irvine, Department of Emergency Medicine publishing Western Journal of Emergency Medicine 2021-05-25 /pmc/articles/PMC8373194/ /pubmed/34437038 http://dx.doi.org/10.5811/cpcem.2021.4.51656 Text en Copyright: © 2021 Salisbury et al https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) License. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
spellingShingle Case Report
Salisbury, James D.
Goodrich, Jennifer G.
McManus, Nicholas M.
Offman, Ryan P.
The Case of the Lime-green Stool: A Case Report and Review of Occult Blood Testing in the Emergency Department
title The Case of the Lime-green Stool: A Case Report and Review of Occult Blood Testing in the Emergency Department
title_full The Case of the Lime-green Stool: A Case Report and Review of Occult Blood Testing in the Emergency Department
title_fullStr The Case of the Lime-green Stool: A Case Report and Review of Occult Blood Testing in the Emergency Department
title_full_unstemmed The Case of the Lime-green Stool: A Case Report and Review of Occult Blood Testing in the Emergency Department
title_short The Case of the Lime-green Stool: A Case Report and Review of Occult Blood Testing in the Emergency Department
title_sort case of the lime-green stool: a case report and review of occult blood testing in the emergency department
topic Case Report
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8373194/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34437038
http://dx.doi.org/10.5811/cpcem.2021.4.51656
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