|
DIARRHOEA |
|
ACUTE: |
||
|
infective: |
food poisoning viral gastro-enteritis |
|
|
*traveller's diarrhoea: |
enterotoxigenic E.Coli (15-70%) other E.coli species (0-15%) Shigella species (0-30%) Salmonella species (0-30%) Campylobacter species (0-35%) viruses (rotavirus, Norwalk family) (0-35%) Giardia lamblia and Entamoeba histolytica (0-10%) Cryptosporidium species (0-5%) other (Aeromonas, Vibrio cholerae, Yersinia) (0-60%) unknown or no pathogen identified (10-50%) |
|
|
drugs: |
laxatives many other drugs, e.g. antibiotics |
|
|
other: |
dietary indiscretion spurious diarrhoea (constipation or faecal impaction) |
|
|
CHRONIC: |
|
|
inflammatory bowel disease microscopic colitis coeliac disease parasitic and fungal infections 'gay bowel disease' (includes infective components) malabsorption syndromes, e.g. chronic pancreatitis pellagra (vitamin B6 deficiency) gut resection post-vagotomy drugs (laxatives, others)gastrointestinal neoplasia, e.g. lymphoma bile acid malabsorption bacterial overgrowth faecal impaction (spurious diarrhoea) |
|
|
endocrine causes: |
thyrotoxicosis diabetic neuropathy carcinoid syndrome pancreatic tumours, eg. glucagonomagastrinoma (Zollinger-Ellison syndrome)VIPoma (WDHA syndrome) |
*NB: Causative organisms in traveller's diarrhoea vary widely depending on region and season
click here to return to the main contents page of Differential Diagnoses in General Medicine